Not too long ago, Amy ran into a well-meaning lady in Wal-Mart who just happened to be buying tickets for the NC Education Lottery. Well, the lady apparently felt guilty and, feeling the urge to explain herself to the "pastor's wife," told Amy, "You know when I finally win the lottery, I'm gonna make sure that I give 20% to the church!" But she continued, "Then I'm gonna give 10% to you!"
Now, don't get me wrong... If anyone chooses to donate lottery winnings to the church, I won't find myself in a moral dilemma about whether or not we should accept it. We'll take it, and we'll use it for God's Kingdom. And if God wants to bless our family through others so that we can pass along the blessing ourselves, I'm all for that.
BUT... HERE'S THE BIGGER ISSUE!
Why do we ask God to give us opportunities to serve Him in the future, when we fail to take advantage of the opportunities we have to serve Him now?
This dear lady is not so different from a lot of people in our churches. So many people I know talk about the day that they will "finally be able to do something great for God." They promise themselves that one day, when they have plenty of money, they'll make some great financial contribution to the Kingdom of God. On a day when they have more time on their hands, they'll truly be able to "learn how to number their days" and use their time wisely for God's greater glory in their lives.
But it's oh so rare to find someone who says, "God, take what I have and use it now. Let me be faithful in what You've blessed me with now before I presuppose to be faithful in what I hope You'll bless me with in the future." Those people are rare, but they are the ones God uses to change the world!
A few years back a British pastor named G. Campbell Morgan wrote, "No man is fit for the great places of service who has not fitted himself by fidelity in obscurity." What that means, people, is that if you're not being faithful NOW, you won't be faithful in the future. And think about it this way: if God can't trust you to be obedient in the small things, why should He expect you to be any better in the big things? If you can't manage your present 'poverty' well, how could you ever hope to manage future wealth any better? If you permit other priorities to keep you from serving God with your time now, you'll most likely permit different priorities to keep you from serving Him with your time in the years ahead. You see, our problems aren't related to the amount of resources or time that we have; the problem lies in the way we manage the resources or time that we've been given.
Now... think about that the next time you make any promises about the future to God (especially if you're buying lottery tickets!)
