"‘Listen and be witnesses against the family of Jacob,’ says the Lord God, the God All-Powerful. ‘When I punish Israel for their sins, I will also destroy the altars at Bethel. The corners of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground. I will tear down the winter house, together with the summer house. The houses decorated with ivory will be destroyed, and the great houses will come to an end,’ says the Lord."
Summer houses and winter houses. Amos is talking about great wealth, excessive wealth. More than what one needs to have.
That’s a problem for Americans. Most Americans tend to have much more than we actually need to have. In fact, most of our commiserations about lack are about the fact that we don’t have all that we want. And we turn wants into needs.
We truly do.
For example, according to one report, 21% of the families in America spend more on their cell phones than they do on groceries (http://www.examiner.com/article/examining-the-cost-of-the-american-dream) yet fewer than 25% of evangelical Americans tithe to their church and if you include all believers and all faith organizations, only 6% donate at least 10% (https://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/180-americans-donate-billions-to-charity-but-giving-to-churches-has-declined#.U8pklHkg-M8).
What does that mean . . . exactly?
It means that, for whatever reason, as a Church, we keep our money for ourselves. And yet, is that what the Lord wants? Does He bless us so that we can bless ourselves . . . or bless others? Paul talks about giving in 2 Corinthians:
"Now I want to tell you, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done for the churches in Macedonia. Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, their wonderful joy and deep poverty have overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing in the gift for the Christians in Jerusalem. Best of all, they went beyond our highest hopes, for their first action was to dedicate themselves to the Lord and to us for whatever directions God might give them" (2 Corinthians 8:1-5 NLT).
"They gave not only what they could afford but far more."
We can give a million reasons why we don’t give, but there is only one reason that we do give: because we love Jesus. The Father was very angry with the Israelites who took their wealth and used it on themselves. They built great houses of ivory and had both summer and winter houses so that they wouldn’t have to suffer because of the changes in the weather. We surround ourselves with creature comforts, even going into debt to do so, and then wonder why we can’t help those around us who are in need. If we were honest, we would admit that there are things—the stuff we have—that distract us from the Lord. If we didn’t have TV’s, would we spend more time in the Word? If we didn’t have smart phones, would we spend more time talking to our families? If we didn’t go on multiple vacations, would we spend more time in our communities serving the needs of others? It’s time that we began, as believers, to start allowing the Holy Spirit to purge our lives so that we can focus more on the Lord. If we truly love the Lord, we should be able to imitate the Macedonian believers and in great joy give in rich generosity of our money, our resources, and our time.
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com
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