Imagine You're A Financial Counselor. Today You ...

Imagine you’re a financial counselor. Today you have two appointments, first with an elderly woman and then a middle-aged man.

The woman’s husband died six years ago. She says, “I have no more money. The cupboards are bare. These two dollars are all I have to live on, yet I feel as if God wants me to put them in the offering. What do you think?”

What would you tell her?

Likely you’d say, “That’s very generous of you, but God gave you common sense. He knows your heart – that you want to give. But he intends you to take care of yourself. I’m sure God would have you keep those two dollars and buy food for tomorrow. You can’t expect him just to send down food from heaven, can you? God wants us to be sensible.”

Your next appointment is with a successful, hardworking, middle-aged farmer whose crop production has been excellent. He tells you, “I’m planning to tear down my old barns to build bigger ones so I can store up more crops and goods and have plenty saved up for the future. Then I can take it easy, retire early, and do some traveling and golfing. What do you think?”

How would you answer?

Perhaps like this: “Sounds good to me! You’ve worked hard. God has blessed you with good crops. It’s your business, your crops, your money. If you can save enough to take care of yourself the rest of your life, by all means go for it. I hope one day I’ll be in a position to do the same!”

Wouldn’t such advice to this poor widow and rich man appear reasonable? What would God have to say about it?

Randy Alcorn, The Law of Rewards (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub. Inc., 1989), 1-2.