Series: Our Primary Concern
Part Two: First Application (verse 33)
By: Kristen L. McNulty
If you enjoyed this Impact devotional, the author would love to hear from you. Email her at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.
If you'd like to reprint this devotional, please email the author first and she will get back to you within 24 hours. Thank you for your consideration.
So Jesus said in Luke 12:31, "[God] will give you all you need from day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern." He then said: "sell what you have and give to those in need" (verse 33). Wow. I don't know about you, but that's one verse in scripture that I'd like to skip over or write off because in truth, Jesus isn't just saying tithe ten percent.
Before we go any further, let me explain one thing. Jesus isn't saying that you're not going to heaven if you have money. He's saying if you want to make the Kingdom of God your primary concern, sell what you have and give to those in need.
Now why would Jesus say this? How is this connected with the Kingdom? Well, you and I both know that nothing can distract or distort our focus like being consumed by money or possessions can. Let's be real. We spend way too much money on ourselves and in doing so, we lose our focus. How? Because in order to have what we have, many of us are not living within our means. And by not living within our means we are not using the money that God gave us for the sake of the Kingdom.
In the early church, the believers clearly understood what Jesus was talking about. Many of them sold everything they had and pooled money together with other believers in order to be more effective for the Kingdom and it worked. Because they were set free from chasing after a bigger house or worrying about have to pay for their newest purchase, they were free to pursue things of the Kingdom.
So how do you and I apply this in 2004? Well, for starters, we've got to get rid of the love of money and possessions that we have. We need to make career and life choices not based on the paycheck, but rather on what God wants of us. We also need to evaluate hoe we spend our money and instead of buying items based on wants, we need to make our purchases based on what we need.
And back to "selling what we have and giving to those in need." We all must be willing to do that if that is what God is calling us to do. Because in truth, if owning any possession is more important to us than pursuing God, then the Kingdom of God is not our primary focus.
In closing, I want to give each of you a challenge this week. I want you for one week to evaluate how and on what do you spend you money. Add up every purchase you make this week whether its on food, clothing, whatever, and then match that amount up to how much you give away. Just some food for thought.
This devotional was aired as a part of the Making A Difference Christian Radio Show.