Money Matters: Devotions from Time of GraceSample

Giving Money God’s Way: Renewable Resources A great many people are terrified that sometime soon the earth will run out of petroleum deposits. From that perspective, fossil fuels are a zero-sum game--there is a strict, finite limit on how much oil exists underground, and when that oil is all pumped out, our cars will all wheeze to a halt. That fear is behind the push for renewable resources, that is, drawing energy from theoretically infinite sources such as the sun, wind, and falling water. More and more we see solar panels and wind turbines sprouting up. More and more ethanol plants are being built that derive their energy output from plants. Do you see giving money back to God as a zero-sum game—if he gets more of my money, then I get less; soon I’ll have nothing? Did you know that God solemnly guarantees to be an endlessly renewable resource for cheerful givers? Here is his promise: “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:10,11). That’s a pretty big promise. Do you believe it?