That Which Is Truly Life

Sermon Discussion Questions

1. Paul warns the rich not to be “haughty.” Why does wealth so easily produce pride or a sense of superiority?
2. Read 1 Timothy 6:17. What is the difference between wisely preparing for the future and “setting your hope” on wealth?
3. What are some practical signs that a person may be placing too much confidence in financial security?
4. Paul describes God as the one “who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” How should that truth shape the way Christians think about possessions, pleasure, and material blessings?
5. The sermon contrasted an attitude of obligation (“I have to give”) with an attitude of opportunity (“I get to give”). Which mindset tends to characterize you more often?
6. Read 1 Timothy 6:18. What does it mean practically to be “rich in good works” and “ready to share”?
7. Why can generosity itself sometimes become another source of pride? How can we guard against that?
8. Read 1 Timothy 6:19. What does Paul mean by “storing up treasure” for the future? How does the promise of eternal reward change the way we think about giving something up now?
9. The sermon said that generosity allows us to “take hold of that which is truly life.” In what ways can the pursuit of wealth keep us from truly living?
10. Is there a particular area where God may be calling you to loosen your grip on what you have and become more generous or ready to share?

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Money, more than almost anything else, has the power to reveal what it is we truly love. Billy Graham is widely quoted as saying, “Give me five minutes with a person’s checkbook, and I will tell you where their heart is.” Maybe “checkbook” feels a bit dated, but how about a person’s credit card statement, or their Amazon purchase history? If someone were to complete a survey of your spending history over the last year, what kind of image would be created in their minds about the kind of person you are and what it is that you love?

In the gospel of Luke, we see two two portraits of two rich men. The first man considered himself to be morally upright, and likely believed he came into his wealth by honest means. The second man was morally bankrupt, and knew his wealth was the result of fraud and deception. But the same remarkable thing happened to both of these men which revealed what it was that they loved the most—they both had an encounter with Jesus.

In Luke 18:18-23, we read the story of the rich young ruler:

[This man asked Jesus], “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

Then, in Luke 19:1-10, just one chapter later, we read the story of Zacchaeus:

“[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Both men had great wealth, and both men had a direct encounter with Jesus. But the results of their encounters were radically different. Why? The first man wanted to follow Jesus, but only if he could keep his wealth. The second man wanted to follow Jesus, even if it meant he must give his wealth away. The wealth of these two men revealed what, or who they loved the most.

This morning in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, we have the opportunity to consider the Bible’s exhortation to the rich. I realize that in even saying those words, immediately, many of you have just tuned out. Maybe your mental image of “wealthy” is the person with a seven-figure bank account, a private yacht, and a vacation home in Fiji. But the definition I think the Bible points us to is far simpler—do you have enough? Do you live most of your waking life without the fear of whether you’ll have your next meal? Whether you’ll lose your home? Whether you’ll have clothes to wear in the morning? If you have “enough”—you should think of yourself as rich.

Of course, there is a wide spectrum of wealth, and we even see this in the Bible, from the uber-wealthy Solomons and Jobs with their thousands of livestock and servants to the moderately wealthy Joannas and Lydias whose homes were used as a gathering place for Jesus and the Apostles. But consider the fact that in our modern world you and I have luxuries that even the wealthiest in the ancient world couldn’t have fathomed—clean running water and sewer systems, supermarkets and refrigerators, blood transfusions and antibiotics. In God’s great kindness, most of us don’t just have “enough,” we have more than enough.

The question our text in will pose to us this morning is how we should think about the resources God has entrusted to us. There is a unique temptation that wealth of all levels presents in the Christian life, and great danger that must be avoided. But there is also a unique opportunity to use the wealth God has entrusted to us for the flourishing of others and the accumulation of eternal treasures that this world can never touch.

Let’s turn now and read Paul’s first letter to young Timothy, pastor of the church in Ephesus. 1 Timothy 6:17-19:

“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

Pray

Three verses, and three points:

1. The Better Hope
2. The Better Focus
3. The Better Reward

1. The Better Hope (17)

We are picking up at the end of Paul’s letter to Timothy. Timothy was a young pastor and a kind of spiritual son to Paul. And apparently, Timothy had his hands quite full with his first pastorate in Ephesus. Ephesus was the capital of the Roman province of Asia and one of the largest hubs of commercial trade in the eastern Mediterranean. It was known especially for the Temple of Atermis, a massive edifice constructed for the worship of the popular pagan God which brought in tremendous tourist revenue. And so, it’s no surprise that in this wealthy city we find many wealthy people. You might remember what happened to Paul in Acts 19 as he brought the gospel into this pagan city. There was a wealthy man named Demetrius, a silversmith whose livelihood depended upon the worship of Artemis, who became so enraged by Paul’s preaching that he mobilized an entire mob of other wealthy craftsman in an attempt to throw Paul and his companions out of the city.

This is the Ephesus where now, around 10 years later, Timothy is pastoring. Recent historical reconstructions that have been presented put about 70-75% of the population near subsistence, and about 10-22% below subsistence. This means that the overwhelming majority of Timothy’s congregation likely lived in general poverty. But, as we’ll see in our text, there were also a number of believers, a small number, who were genuinely wealthy—perhaps successful business men and women, societal elites, and trust-fund kids.

Place yourself in Paul and Timothy’s shoes. If you were thinking pragmatically about the most effective way to expand the reach of the gospel in Ephesus and the Roman empire, how might you interact with the rich in your congregation? You would probably want to go out of your way to make them feel welcomed and honored. You might host a special “donors dinner” where you invite the top 10% givers from the church. You might direct them to sit in the front pews of the church and place of honor at the church potluck. After all, church planting and missions work is expensive!

But this is not what Paul does. No, because he loves these wealthy believers and is jealous for their joy, he instructs Timothy to speak plainly to them a word of challenge and a word of encouragement. Look with me again at verse 17:

“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”

Right away, I want you to notice and important point. Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say, “As for the rich in this present age, tell them to give away their money. Wealth is too dangerous, and it’s not worth the risk.” Now, can wealth be dangerous and risky? Yes, of course! Look back with me just a few verses up in 1 Timothy 6:9-10:

“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Let’s zoom in on two details here from these earlier verses:

• Who is it that falls into temptation? Those who desire to be rich.
• And what is at the heart of this desire? Paul says it is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil.

What does this tell us? It tells us that the desire for wealth motivated by a sinful love of money is a root of evil so powerful that its end is ruin and destruction. And this isn’t just Paul’s opinion. In Matthew 6:24, Jesus himself says,

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Those who love money and serve money cannot love and serve God. Money is a terrible master, but it can be a wonderful servant. “It is possible,” says one commentator, to possess wealth in a God-honoring way.” Paul does not treat wealth as the problem; the problem is with the sinful attitudes that exploit and use wealth in the wrong way” (ESV Expository Commentary).

So, what are these sinful attitudes that threatened to crop up in the lives of wealthy first-century Christians? And the sinful attitudes that threaten those of us today who God has endowed with “enough” and more than enough? Paul gives us 2:

#1 “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty…”

Preaching the Word: "[Haughty]" here is a composite of two Greek words meaning "to think" and "exalted thoughts" - to cherish high thoughts of yourself. Arrogance is self-conscious pride, and haughtiness is its telltale sign. And it breeds insolence and contempt.”

Why do you think the wealthy in Timothy’s church needed to hear this? We might we need to hear this? Haughtiness, this “cherishing of high thoughts of yourself” stems from a number of evil roots:

1. Here’s one—it’s the false belief: “I earned this myself. I put in the time, the sweat equity, and the ingenuity and know-how to become successful.”
   1. But friend, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Cor 4:7) Who is the one who created you with the gifts and personality that you have, and sovereignly orchestrated every open door, connection, and opportunity that led to your success? There are no “self-made” men or “self-made” women.
2. But haughtiness does not consist of pride alone, but also a despising of others.
   1. Maybe you believe that you have what you have simply because you are better than those who have less. Of course, you would never say it “quite like that,” but is there any part of that statement that rings true in your heart? A good way to diagnose whether this is true in your heart is to ask yourself, “What is the primary emotion that I feel when I’m confronted with someone who is financially impoverished? When you drive past a homeless man on a corner, or watch a woman use food stamps to pay for her groceries? Or that friend or family member who just for the life of them cannot get out of debt? What do you find is stirred up inside of you the most? Sympathy and compassion? Or pride? “This is where my taxpayer dollars are going? I wonder what stupid life decisions led them here!” Do you despise those who have less than you?

Money, more than almost anything else, carries with it the coercive power to make us believe that we don’t need God. Or worse yet, to make us believe that we are God. “I can provide for myself.” It’s no wonder, then, that Jesus has such alarming concern for those who are rich:

Luke 18:24-25 “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Before we move on, I wonder if you caught the first part of Paul’s challenge in verse 17, something that almost sounds like a passing comment. He says, “As for the rich in this present age…”

What’s another reason why Christians with wealth should not be haughty? Because all the wealth that they have accumulated for themselves has an expiration date. It’s like the kid who boasts about how many Chuck-E-Cheese tickets he earned at a birthday party, blissfully unaware of the fact that they will become virtually worthless as soon as he steps out the door.

NAC: “Paul's beginning reference to the "present world" suggests that the wealthy can have their wealth only in this age. It is good for this present world, but it does not convert automatically into blessedness in the world beyond.”

How foolish it is, then, to be haughty of something so transitory and elusive, something that you have no power to keep or to bring with you in death.

So, the first sinful attitude that threatens those who are wealthy is haughtiness. But there’s a second sinful attitude.

#2 “Nor to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches…”

Wealth can tempt you to believe that you are better than you are. But it can also tempt you to believe that you are more secure than you are.

Let me share an embarrassing personal anecdote. Melissa and I were married when we were 21. Before marriage, I was financially illiterate. During my high-school and college years, I was very frivolous. One time I traded my brother my Xbox video-game system for his bag of Cheetos. I wish I was making this up. I was terrible with money. But then I got married, and I remember this thought hitting me like a ton of bricks: ”I am now responsible for the financial provision and protection of my new family. I can’t afford to be this stupid with my money any more.” So I devoured all the finance books and podcasts I could find, and worked hard along with Melissa to aggressively pay off all our outstanding debts within 18 months.

I remember shortly after paying off our final school loan opening a Roth IRA investment account for the first time. I had read all about the magic of compound interest and the benefits of investing as early as you can, and so we began to put away a good chunk of change into that Roth IRA for several years. I had also read that it’s a good practice with investing to “set it and forget it”—to set up automatic monthly contributions and to not look at your accounts very often so you don’t freak out too much when the volatility of the stock market pushes your investments up or down. So I didn’t check my account—for about two years. When I finally decided to log in and check on how my investments were performing, I learned a valuable and devastating lesson: I learned that just “putting money in a Roth IRA” account doesn’t actually mean that you’ve invested anything. You have to follow the very important SECOND step of choosing what stocks you actually want to invest the money into. Because of my ignorance, we missed out on 2 really amazing (infuriatingly amazing) years of compound growth.

And the most embarrassing part of all of this was how supremely proud I was of myself for being so financially responsible and suave to have opened an IRA account as a young man in my early 20s. I was that fun guy at parties that pulled out my compound interest calculator to show you how much your money could be worth in 40 years if you started investing now, like me.

For those two years I had a lot of certainty and a lot of hope for my financial future. And the Lord, very graciously relieved me of that misplaced certainty and hope!

Maybe, for you, the strongest temptation that money presents is not the temptation towards haughtiness and pride, but misplaced security. Maybe you grew up in a home where money was extremely scarce and you are committed to doing whatever it takes to make sure your children never have to experience what you experienced. Maybe you are delaying marriage, or delaying children because you haven’t achieved a level of “financial security” that you think is necessary. Or, maybe you live in a constant state of angst over whether your retirement accounts or social security will remain enough for you to live on. You don’t have to be rich to be at risk of a misplaced hope in the uncertainty of riches.

Friend, your desire for financial security is not wrong. Proverbs 6:6-8 commends to us the example of the ant—to “consider her ways and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in the harvest.” She doesn’t spend all her resources at once, but puts away extra for her future needs. It is a good and godly thing to provide financial security for you and your family. The more pertinent question is, where is your confidence? Just 5 chapters later, Solomon gives us another proverb. Proverbs 11:28:“Whoever trusts in his riches will fall.” Jesus gives us an even more vivid picture of the foolishness of trusting in riches in the parable of Luke 12:16–21:

“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

What a foolish thing it is for you and me to place such confidence in something so uncertain!

• You have no certainty that you will maintain physical and cognitive ability to continue working to gain income.
• You have no certainty that your job will always be there, or that your business will thrive.
• You have no certainty of what will happen in our economy and to the stock market over the next few decades of your life.
• You have no certainty that God might not allow an immense financial burden to be placed on you or your family (life-altering medical diagnoses, chronic illnesses that require expensive medication, caring for an aging parent).

So, Paul charges us not to place our hope on the uncertainty of riches but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”

I want you to see how generous God is to you. What kind of provision does he promise you? “Adequate” **provision? “Just-enough-to-scrape-by: provision? No! He is a God of rich, lavish, unending generosity! I want you to listen to these well-known words from Ephesians 2 through the filter of God’s generous heart:

Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

And notice too, back to our text in 1 Timothy 6:17, that he richly provides us with everything to enjoy! Not a dull, drab subsistence, but a life of beauty and delight! The rich purple and golden hues of a sunrise, the delicious first bite of your favorite meal, your favorite piece of clothing, a cool breeze on your face, the laughter of children. The world God has made is so very good. And wonder of wonders, he has placed you in this world of beauty and delight. And because this your Father’s World, he rules and reigns over it all. There is no job loss, no economic downturn, no medical diagnosis that catches him by surprise.

And so, do you trust him?

Wealth, when viewed through the eyes of the world, can lead us into the ditches of haughtiness and misplaced hope. But, wealth, when viewed through the eyes of faith, can be used for great blessing.

2. The Better Focus (18)

6:18 “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share”

Verse 18 might seem like it’s calling for three separate actions, but they are really all different ways of saying the same thing: The greater the wealth God has entrusted to you, the greater opportunity you have to use that wealth in the service of others.

John Calvin: "A man's opportunities to do good to others increase with the abundance of his riches.”

Uncle Ben: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Wealth can create an opportunity for great selfishness, but it can also create an opportunity for great joy through the blessing of others. In 2 Corinthians 8:10, Paul charges another congregation to excel in the grace of giving, and he says something pretty remarkable in 8:10:

“And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you [this generous giving to other churches in need], who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it.”

Paul unashamedly appeals to these believers’ self-interest. He not only says in his letter, “Be generous because it’s the right thing to do”, but be generous because it will expand your joy! And this isn’t only a tactic used by Paul. Remember that Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). We must learn to see the wealth God has given us less like an obligation, and more like an opportunity.

The ethos of “obligation”: “I must… I should… I have to….” Obligation is the mindset of scarcity: “I only have so much, so I will only give what is required.”

The ethos of “opportunity”: “I get to! I get to join God in his generous work of mercy and compassion.” Opportunity has the mindset of abundance. Everything I have is from the Lord, and because this is my Father’s world and he has promised to richly supply me with everything to enjoy, I can be radically, extravagantly generous. Those who are animated by the ethos opportunity take to heart Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 9:10-11:

“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

Do you see the virtuous cycle that is created here? When you embrace this mindset of generous opportunity and freely and cheerfully share what God has given you, He who is the fount of every blessing will continue to provide for you so that you can provide for others, so that he can get the glory both for meeting your needs and theirs!

How about for you? As you consider the different needs that you encounter on a regular basis—the needs of your church, the needs of the poor, whatever it is, what is it that primarily animates you? Obligation? Or opportunity? Again, I hope you see how all of this comes back to one central question: What do you believe about God? Do you believe that he is rich in mercy and faithful in his provision for you? For your family? Or do you believe, like so many do, that God simply “helps those who help themselves?” That at the end of the day, it all comes down to you—how willing you are to put in the time, make the sacrifices, and make it happen? If that is your mindset, this whole concept of “generosity” and being “ready to share” will seem radically unfair. You might give to your church and other ministries of mercy, but that giving will likely flow more from social pressure and obligation, not love.

Even more insidiously, the temptation to haughtiness is so strong for those who have wealth that even an act of “generosity” can further inflame their sense of moral superiority. “Look at how generous I am! If it weren’t for my generosity, these needs would not have been met.” They forget the God who gave them their wealth came from and how unmerited his gift was.

Friend, you will only be able to enjoy your wealth as an opportunity and not simply an obligation if you remember that it is not yours in the first place. What do you have that you did not receive? What reason do you have to be haughty? When you trade in the “awe of self” for an “awe of God” who has richly supplied you with every good gift that you now enjoy though it is totally unmerited, you will be empowered to joyfully and generously share what you have received from him. And your joy will be multiplied.

Back in 2020, Christian History magazine had feature story detailing the remarkable life of R.G. LeTourneau:

“From humble beginnings and a seventh-grade education, LeTourneau taught himself engineering and eventually built a manufacturing empire. His earth-moving machines helped win World War II and construct the highway infrastructure of modern America in the 1950s and 1960s. By the end of his life, he held over 300 patents.

When he was 30 and deeply in debt, LeTourneau’s missionary sister urged him to get serious about serving God. Confused, he assumed he must become a pastor. But after LeTourneau attended a revival meeting, his pastor reminded him that it was the Lord who gave him his business skills, and the Lord who wanted to pour out his generosity on the church through LeTourneau’s success. By God’s grace, LeTourneau took this conviction to heart and sought to radically increase his generosity throughout his life, eventually giving away 90% of his personal income and stock in the company. He established two large missionary works in Liberia and Peru, he founded LeTourneau University to help train people in technical skills to aid them in missionary works, and helped fund countless Christian camps, conference centers, and evangelists, including Billy Graham. This is how he summarized the aim of his life: “The question is not how much of my money I give to God, but rather how much of God’s money I keep for myself.”

LeTourneau was such a remarkable man, not simply because of how “rich” he was in the worldly sense, but because of how clearly he personified what it means to be “rich in good works.” Friends, this is kind of “richness” it is godly and safe to pursue! If the Lord has given you some measure of financial success in your life, can I encourage you? The same forward-looking vision, discipline, and actions that the Lord used to bless you with resources in this life is the same forward looking vision, discipline, and action that he now wants you to use in your pursuit of being “rich in good works”.

• Has God blessed you with a knack for industry and innovation that has led to a measure of wealth in this age? How can you channel that same industry and innovation for the kingdom?
• Has the Lord developed in you a measure of wisdom, steadiness, and self-control? How might he use those godly disciplines to enrich the lives of the people he has placed around you, both in your home, your church, and your community?
• Have you taken big risks in your life and career that God has been kind to bless? How might he use that same courage and pioneering-spirit to expand the reach of Christ’s church and his ministry of mercy?

Our world, our city, our church is full of great needs. Each of us, to the degree that God has entrusted to us more than we need, have not only the obligation, but more importantly, the opportunity to turn our eyes away from ourselves and outward to generously and joyfully meet the needs of others—to become “rich in good works.”

We’ve considered the Better Hope, the Better Focus, and now let’s end by considering the Better Reward.

3. The Better Reward (19)

6:19 “Thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

To the degree that you are generous in this life and rich in good works, there is a treasure that is being accumulated for you in the heaven that is far sweeter and far safer than any wealth or possessions you could accumulate in this life. In Matthew 6:19-20 Jesus lovingly reminds us,

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Friend, this is the kind of treasure that is worth hoarding, that is worth giving your life to. And this is what will free you up to give and act with radical generosity right here, right now. Are you afraid of being taken advantage of? Of missing out on some opportunity in this life because you were too generous? Remember that “God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name” (Heb 6:10). “Thus,” Jesus says again in Matthew 6:2-4,

“…when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

And yet grace upon grace, this is not simply a treasure whose benefits you must wait to experience in the life to come. You can experience it now. Look with me again at 1 Timothy 6:19, what is the immediate experience for the one who is storing up treasure for the future? “….so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” Brother and sister, there is a glorious life that you can take hold of right now. A life that is free from the love of money and the pursuit of abundant possessions. This is the life that Jesus came to give you, even at great cost to himself:

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

You live in your Father’s World—the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the fount of every blessing, the giver of every good and perfect gift, the one who supplies rain to the dry land, food for the sparrows, clothes for the lilies. The one who “did not spare his own son, but graciously gave him up for us all… how will he not also with him graciously give you all things” (Romans 8:32)?

So friend, open your hands to receive the blessing of God’s gracious provision. And when his provision flows into your hands, do not close them but leave them open so that that same provision can flow through your hands for the blessing of others and the glory of your great Provider.

Heed the wisdom of Proverbs 11:24-25

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered.

Philippians 4:19 — “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Take hold of that which is truly life.