Mark 10:17-26
• When push came to shove, the rich young man could not enter into the Kingdom of God because he was ultimately focused on the dot, not on the line
• He couldn’t see past his own desires and felt needs in the present age and so could not grasp the idea of living by the values of the age to come (the line) rather than the present age (the dot)
• The person who lives for the dot lives for treasures on earth and makes investments that will not last into eternity
• Giving generously for God’s Kingdom is living for the line
Luke 9:25-26
• We will all part with our money, the question is when
• We can part with it now, willingly, and put our heart and treasure in God’s reality of the age to come . . . .
• Or we will lose everything one day with nothing to show for it
• It’s our choice whether we want to make an investment now that will last by giving to God or keep for ourselves and invest in things that will be worthless one day
• We can keep earthly treasures for the moment, and we may derive some temporary enjoyment from them now but if we give them away for the causes that please God, we’ll enjoy eternal treasures that can never be taken from us
• Have you ever thought of applying Jesus’ principle of saving and losing your life in the present age only to receive the opposite of that in the age to come, to your possessions and wealth?
• What does “giving is living for the line” mean to you?
• You might blow Jim Elliot off as a “super spiritual” type of missionary who never thinks of gain
• That would be to miss the point because gain is exactly what he is thinking about
• He wanted the type of gain that you couldn’t lose
• Anything you invest in earthly treasures will be lost completely
• Anything you invest in heavenly treasures will continue to build interest and be useful for eternity
• Think of these statistics
• The average American shops six hours a week while spending forty minutes playing with their children
• By age 20, the average American has seen one million commercials
• More Americans have declared bankruptcy than graduated from college
• Arguments about money play a prominent role in 90% of divorce cases
• There is a striking scene at the end of the movie “Schindler’s List” where he looks at each possession he still has and laments over how many people he could have saved had he only given up that thing
• Have you ever done that with your possessions and thought of the good that could be done if you invested more in God’s Kingdom?
• The reality is that when we live with our eye on the line, we can actually do more good in the present age, a truth that Schindler realized finally at the end of the war
Convictions
• Are you willing to sacrifice your comfort and worldly wealth for the Kingdom of God?
• Are you willing to keep just what you need to get by and live with your eyes on the line rather than the dot?
This is a great question and 1 that I have been thinking about lately. The more I think about it the more I find myself falling short. Sometimes I think I just need to take the plunge and sell it all. Then I talk myself out of it.
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