Not Mine, Not Mine to Keep

Meditate: Acts 2:44

That brings up the third point (and possibly the most foreign to us):
For the believers to live this way also meant that they got it that individual prosperity is a whole family issue.

Allow me to explain. See, when I get a promotion, my entire household gets a raise. I’m the “breadwinner,” the “provider,” for my family and, as I said yesterday, they know where my money goes.

Whatever the provider provides benefits the entire family, right? If more comes in, then we all have more. If income takes a dive, we all adjust. It wouldn’t occur to me to hold out on my family. To tighten my grip and say, “Mine!” while they do without. Say it with me, “Real families don’t act that way.“

Now we’re fine with this so far. But this is usually as far as we want to go with this. See, if you’re a good, Bible-quoting Christian and I ask you if God’s your provider, chances are pretty high you’ll say yes.

But if I’m really tricky and, just out of the blue, I walk up and ask you how you get your grocery money, there’s an even better chance your answer will be about a paycheck (and not about our Lord).

And the truth is that you wouldn’t really be wrong (but I could sure make you feel guilty for leaving God out of it…)

The difficulty here is how we look at what God provides. God does provide for us but it usually doesn’t fall out of heaven like manna. But even knowing that, we’ve drifted into the notion that maybe God’s not directly connected to income from a “regular job.”

I mean, if you’ve been unemployed then you might look at a paycheck and sincerely say, “Thank God.” But most of us don’t think at all about God when we’re looking at our name on that check.

And if you’re paid via an electronic funds transfer where you just see a certain amount credited to your account from time to time, the odds get even slimmer. (That’s how I get my pay, so I know what I’m talking about here.)

And when we see it on the bank statement, it becomes all too easy to think “mine!” After all, it has my name on it.

And, speaking for myself at least (it may be different at your house), since that statement never reflects an unlimited supply, it’s almost impossible to take any part of that amount lightly because I’m sure “there’s plenty more where that came from…” And that makes it that much harder to let any of it go. “What if I don’t have enough?“

The challenge here is to become thoroughly aware that no matter whose name is on the check, it’s always God providing for me.

And He deserves my thanks for all He provides. There is plenty more where that came from.

And He’ll see that I’ll always have “enough.”

• Who’s really providing for me?

Pray:
Praise: You are my Provider. In You I lack no good thing.
Confess: I like to think that I’m in charge, that I’m the provider.
Thank: You are the faithful Father who knows my needs.
Ask: Help me to focus on You, to see what You’re doing in my life.

Digging Deeper: Psalm 37

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