39. Money and Life*

Money seems very dear to you doesn't it? After all, you worked hard to get it. Of course, you don't have much trouble spending money to buy the things you want.

Why is money so dear? Because money is life. You use your talents over a period of time and you say that you've lived. YOUR time + YOUR talents = YOUR life. But life cannot be stored for future use, and you cannot transport the part of time you've already lived.

Now look at it from a different angle. You have to eat, clothe yourself and provide yourself and your family with shelter. So you go down to XYZ Paper Manufacturing Co. every day and help them make paper. You use your talents over a period of time, and they pay you money. The nice thing about money is that you can use it, or store it, or transport it to another place and use it there. Your talents, used over a period of time, yields money. So YOUR time + YOUR talents = YOUR money.

In high school algebra you learned that any two things that equaled the same thing are also equal to each other. So YOUR money = YOUR life.

When the deacons pass the plates and you place your money into them, you are giving to God your life―that part you used in earning the money. Since we are stewards of our time and talents―and thus of life and money―when we give an offering, we have given a part of our lives to God.

*From Mel Rees