"The Gift of NOW"

Scripture Text: "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap... yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Matthew 6 : 26 (KJV)

Tuesday night, on the O'Reilly show, Brian Stossel admitted that he, someone who has around 10% of his fortune in gold and about 40% diversified in other "recession" busting assets is "scared" for the future. He mentioned that he believes that he will be okay because he has saved all of his life and has a nest egg... but for most Americans in the U.S. that's just not the case. He continued to paint a very solemn picture for the rest of us who make below $250,000 per year. In that case I guess I should be shaking in my boots.

I can remember someone asking the question once (I believe it was Max Lucado) ... he said,

"You rarely see a hungry bird, or a bird with no feathers, or a bird with no tree to sleep in. Birds never sow, reap, or gather into barns. All they have is what they need at the moment. Our heavenly Father takes care of them on a daily basis."

Isn't that a wonderful thought? What's even better is what Jesus said about that in our text for today.

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap... yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" Matthew 6 : 26 (KJV)

Jesus is saying here that our Father, Creator of all of the Universe, has an even "greater" plan for us than He does for the fowls of the air. He doesn't just take care of us on a day-to-day basis. He is Jehovah-Jireh, "the God of more than enough". He gives us the ability to plant and to harvest, and to gather the abundance into the storehouse (Malachi 3:10).

OUCH! Did you ever get one of those emails that prod you to send it to 10 more people and something good will happen to you? Most never say what will happen to you if you don't but they leave the impression that the skies will fall and the rivers run dry and your shoestrings will be perpetually untied.

So we come up with the 10 people; in fact, just about everyone has built a list of people just for that kind of thing so they don't have to spend too much time on it - just hit forward and their list and voilà, they're
done. Yet, many of those same people will disregard the message of Malachi 3: 10-12 which says...

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts."

That's a good WORD and yet people would sooner part from their time than they would their money where they can store up riches in heaven. That was the point of the text in both accounts by the way.

In case you don't know it, your abundance "belongs" in the storehouse that God has provided, which is in the furtherance of the Church. I challenge you to be the one who will defy the odds and prove God today. Bring your gift of love and harvest into the place where God has put His Name. Stop being like a bird, but start sowing, reaping, and gathering into the storehouse that blesses you and that you know blesses others, so the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be preached in all the Earth.

Let's pray.

Father God, Use me today to bring the Gospel into all of the WORLD through my giving. I give to you today with a cheerful heart - filled with PRAISE. Receive what I have even now for the furtherance of THY KINGDOM. In Jesus' Name, AMEN.