Simple Math

It's been said, "Giving doesn't cost, it pays". Can this be true? Well, that depends on what we're giving, for what reasons, and who we're giving to. If you give quarters to a person on the street begging for change, are you doing good? What if you give them advice, that may or may not be welcome. What about giving your time to a friend. Not being too busy to 'spend' your evening doing something that won't benefit you directly. Even plants need more than water.

At some point, in all our lives the thought crosses our mind. We think, "What am I doing?", "Is this all there is to life?" We feel as though there is something missing. Our so-called valuables are no longer worth much. Think back to any harsh event in your recent history. Say you're reading a magazine while drinking tea, there's children playing and you tell them to quiet down so you can read in peace. You get a phone call,
a loved one has been in a car accident. You have no transportation to go to the scene. Suddenly those pictures in the magazine, that teacup with it's contents, and the noise the children were making is of little relevance. All you care about is getting to where that loved one is, and knowing if they are all right. It doesn't matter what those celebrities are wearing, what features the new car has, which TV show has the highest ratings, all that matters is the safety of those you care about. In our worst moments, we see only the most important things, we see them clearly. These things we surround ourselves with are an obstruction, they hinder and keep us from that which matters most. If you've screamed at a family member for blocking the TV, if you've ignored your son or daughter's clumsy drawing because you were 'working', if you've even raised your voice at a child for breaking some fragile adornment, you're as guilty as all of us.


“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea." Matthew 18:6 


We are all children in the eyes of God. We are His children. What parent would like for a child to be treated harshly. The Lord loves us so much, has such mercy, such patience with us that it baffles the mind. Upon really examining ourselves, not others, we find such filth, so horrible a past in comparison to the perfection of the life seen in Christ. Yet His perfection didn't cause him to die for our sins, It's because He died for our sins that His love was perfected. If He hadn't suffered the cross, we would have been lost. There would be no atoning sacrifice leading to our salvation. This was something The Redeemer could not allow. Such love as was His could not bear the thought of anyone suffering needlessly. 


"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16


God gave His son. As a sacrifice for humanity, and by His death, we have the opportunity at being with Him. For eternity.