Juice Powder

Today I needed to go to the grocery store to get some food and I had a little list of things I thought I’d like to get. Among other things I wrote “Juice Powder”… but I struggled with it. The thing is that I have water for free, and buying juice powder to make it taste sweet and fruity or for a change, is good and totally alright, but for me right now I didn’t think I needed it. Yes, I wanted to buy some because it’s nice, but I went to the store and did not buy any, because I knew I had water for free and I could save 3$ or so by not getting this juice powder. I just decided not to fulfill this actually not important desire of mine. People would argue that because it is such a little, non-important and cheap desire, I should have gotten it. It’s a really lame argument. Why 3$ would make a difference anyways? It doesn’t make much of a difference right now in my bank account, that’s true. But if week after week I discard little things like that and choose to not have little “side” things for my lunches and to buy every new cd I’d like, then it amounts to more money. I don’t see it though. So without really realizing it, I can save money for university. But more importantly, I can save money for God’s cause.

Why are we so often on our guards when people ask us to help with our wallet, missionary work or the poor around us or a special outreach project? Why is it so easy to buy things for ourselves and the people we love and so difficult to give money to help people spread the it is that way is that we are selfish, lack faith in God to provide for our own needs, and because we really do have little money in our bank accounts. It’s true that most of us aren’t rich, and that we actually probably have little money, just enough for the month, or just enough for the semester. That’s a true reality. I totally know and understand that many of us already don’t spend much or any money on things that are not needed, but I think that most of us do. I do not mean to say that by stopping to buy little things like apple sauce for our lunches and coffee at work and juice powder and a new t-shirt and a new cd here and there will make us rich. No. But obviously, it will keep a few more bucks in our bank accounts and when we’ll be called to help, for sure we’ll have a few extra bucks and for sure we’ll be able to partake in the offering, knowing that we gave up a few little comforts in order to help bring comfort to those who don’t even have a third of what we have.
If we have a hard time considering giving money to God’s cause outside our monthly tithe, we should consider why we usually don’t have a hard time considering buying things for ourselves. We always want to get things for our money, if we give, then we should get something in return right? But that’s not the way God wants things to work all the time. He calls us to live by faith, to be wise with our money and always be ready to help those in need knowing that He will provide for all our needs (understanding that He knows what we really need). Giving to missionary work or an outreach in your church or a kid going to bible college obviously does not give you anything like food or clothing or neat gadgets, but I can testify with little experience, that giving to God’s cause bring you joy, joy in realizing that you are a tangible part of the work that is being done because of your gift, or the food or help it brought to others in need.
So hopefully God will help me think and care more about the people around me and less about myself, I hope He will give me more grace to see what I can do to save money for His saints, His cause. And I pray that He will call this generation of Christians here in America to realize how rich we are and the great task and privilege we have in helping our people and His saints all around the globe spreading the name of Jesus by being always ready to give joyfully when we hear about their needs.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 7$/as of May 6, 2006.
Please know that I have not written this post to push you to give for this Bank. It’s simply something I have been realizing since several months and that struck me again with my juice powder dilemma. Be free to ask questions or leave a comment, thanks again for those who already gave to Gospel for Asia through this Bank! gabeleroux@yahoo.ca