We thank you Father for everything.
This is one area where I'm probably as guilty as anyone. I tend to like having something for a rainy day. I certainly can't compare with the widow who gave her last mite, not that the money I've got in the bank would last very long.
But like all things, things can be taken to excess either way. Thinking that having nothing is more 'Godly' can also lead to problems. Proverbs 30:8,9 has this advice "give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." It's interesting to note that this was not one of the proverbs of Soloman.
Money, like food, clothing and, if fact, everything we have, has been given by God. But it's not what we've got but how we use it. Do we rely on money, rather than on God? Jesus gave a good parable about our possession. It is recorded in Luke 12:15-21
"And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Matthew 6:19-21 has this advice "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
The first century Christians showed a better way. Acts 2:44,45 has these words "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need."
God has been good to us, so we should be good to others.
I was told a while back that one of the advantages of having a Santa Claus is that you get something for nothing, and don't even have to say thank you. No wonder the world is in the state it is with that sort of mentality. God has given us everything and we should thank him for it whenever possible.
What has God given us?
How do we thank God for everything he has given us?
How can we share with others?
Which Biblical examples demonstrate giving and sharing?