I gave my Bible away today. Not the one that I read every day, with the wrinkled pages and highlighted passages and underlined words and notes scribbled in the margin. This is one that I've never really even opened, but it was special to me, anyway. It was a English-Korean parallel Bible, and was my going-away present from my mother and father, given to me the day before I left the country.
At first I really struggled with giving it away. I'm hugely sentimental, and this particular Bible had a lot of sentimental value to me. But the person I gave it to has been asking a lot of questions recently about God, and when they mentioned the other day that they wished they had a paper copy of the Bible to read, I couldn't in good conscience shrug off their comment, knowing full well that I had a brand-new, unused Bible sitting on my shelf at home, just waiting for someone to read it.
So I gave it to them...and then went and read Matthew 6. As I see more cultures and meet more people and, most importantly, get to know God better and better, I'm starting to realize something. At the end of my life, God isn't going to care how many sentimental trinkets, exotic curiosities, or unique souvenirs I've accumulated over the span of my life. None of those things are going to come with me after I die, anyway. What He will care about is the people I've helped, the lives I've touched, and the times that I've shown His love to someone else.
It's time to get our perspective lined up with God's. Do we care more about some silly little trinket, or being on time to a meeting, or saving face in front of our friends.....or do we care enough about the people around them to show them God's love? Ask God today to give you an eternal perspective. Once your perspective changes, it's amazing how your actions towards others will follow.
At first I really struggled with giving it away. I'm hugely sentimental, and this particular Bible had a lot of sentimental value to me. But the person I gave it to has been asking a lot of questions recently about God, and when they mentioned the other day that they wished they had a paper copy of the Bible to read, I couldn't in good conscience shrug off their comment, knowing full well that I had a brand-new, unused Bible sitting on my shelf at home, just waiting for someone to read it.
So I gave it to them...and then went and read Matthew 6. As I see more cultures and meet more people and, most importantly, get to know God better and better, I'm starting to realize something. At the end of my life, God isn't going to care how many sentimental trinkets, exotic curiosities, or unique souvenirs I've accumulated over the span of my life. None of those things are going to come with me after I die, anyway. What He will care about is the people I've helped, the lives I've touched, and the times that I've shown His love to someone else.
It's time to get our perspective lined up with God's. Do we care more about some silly little trinket, or being on time to a meeting, or saving face in front of our friends.....or do we care enough about the people around them to show them God's love? Ask God today to give you an eternal perspective. Once your perspective changes, it's amazing how your actions towards others will follow.
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin
do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 
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