Simple, Probably Difficult, Absolutely Life Changing.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth...


"I was taking a coffee break during a family conference in Kentucky when Will walked up and stood beside my chair. He was about nine. he asked if I wanted to donate to a missions project.

"What would you use my money for?"

Will held out a radio. "This radio runs by sun power," he said proudly. "It's for people who live in the jungles. People can listen to this radio to learn things and hear about Jesus."
I decided on the spot to make Will an offer. "Tell you what," I said, "I'll give to your project, but I have a rule that says that you have to give money first." On one of his donation cards, I wrote out my proposal:

"Will,
If you give one to five dollars I'll give double what you give.
If you give six to ten dollars I'll give triple what you give.
If you give eleven to twenty dollars I'll quadruple what you give"

I signed my name and Will read the card. By the time he finished hie eyes were as big as saucers. Then suddenly his face fell, and he stared at the floor.

"Don't you like my idea?" I asked.
"Yeah" he said, shuffling his feet.
"Well, what are you going to do?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"I can't," he said, "I already gave everything I had."

I felt a pang in my heart. "You mean you put all your money in your own fund drive?" I asked.
He nodded.
"So you can't buy any more snacks for the rest of the conference?"

He nodded again.

At that moment I know what I needed to do.

"Actually, Will," I began, "I also have a rule that if you give everything you have then I will give everything I have, too."
As it happened, I'd just been to a bank to withdraw a considerable amount of cash for my trip. I reached under the table for my briefcase, pulled out a bank envelope of bills, and handed it to Will.

I'm not sure who was more surprised-Will or me. Now both of us had eyes as big as saucers, but we were both grinning happily.

My experience with will has come to illustrate a truth for me about giving that's so surprising it hardly sounds possible: Whatever I give to God on earth He will more than give back to me in heaven...

The treasure God asks you to serve Him with is the very force in your life that threatens your loyalties to your Master. Jesus said that No man can serve two masters...

When you serve God, you are using God's money to accomplish His wishes. But when you serve money you are using God's money to accomplish your wishes. And when you do that, you will inevitably follow your human instincts to keep your money here.

But Jesus said "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

So let me ask you, where is your heart right now? If you aren't purposefully and generously investing your treasure in God's kingdom, I promise you it's because your heart isn't there.
The solution is simple, probably difficult, and absolutely life changing. Don't wait for your heart to move on its own, my friend, because it might never happen. Instead, apply what you've learned from words of Jesus. Begin to move your treasure today to what matters in heaven, and your heart will follow."

~Bruce Wilkinson, excerpt from "A Life God Rewards"