Recollection Entry 4 Jan 25 2023

It’s tough knowing how much to give and how much to save for yourself.

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/does-jesus-teach-us-to-sell-all-our-possessions

The good Samaritan was commended that he stopped and helped the wounded man on the road. He had some wine to give him. He had a donkey that he would let him ride. He had money for paying for his lodging (Luke 10:30–35). Jesus didn’t question him, saying,“Hey, why do you have a donkey? Why do you have wine? Why do you have money? You’re supposed to give everything away.”

This is good. When Jesus said to sell all of or possession, He wasn’t talking about selling all of them at the detriment of our family. Like, you could have a family house, and what Jesus expects you to sell that? He tells us to take care of our family, so having housing for your family is about protecting them.

They key point is where you put your money towards since our treasure is our relationship, and when you save enough money for the future, put it in investments like saving accounts to protect against inflation, you help your family survive. That’s a way of giving, of tithing, to your own family. Tithing is more than just giving a random percentage, it’s about having some of the money you have go to other people, it could be any amount, even the smallest amount. It’s like when Jesus commended a person for giving a penny, the important thing is that, we even have a mustard seed amount of what we give.

Of course, we aren’t saved by tithing or giving but by simply having faith alone in Jesus Christ to be saved. Though, since I am an obsessive person at times I don’t want to fall into the compulsion of giving. Look at that, OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in one sentence.

1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one”

That’s very true too, from the Bible. A borrower is a slave to a lender. Of course, if you give away so much money that you end up taking out lines of credit and going into debt in other areas of your life that would be bad. So that’s what I’m trying to avoid. When someone says “give money” they should keep that in mind when they say it.

And, like, I understand why people say give money. But words have impact. So, it’s a lot

Lol, and I know, I also had an article that had give money. But the focus of that was more like just giving things in general, time, value, friendship, security, love. Money is just like a medium we can use to give money. And we need money to support ourselves, so that we can survive.

Just a sort of rant I’m feeling, just to let out my thoughts. My life is all about just surviving, each day with each new obstacle, waiting until I can finally be in Heaven until we’re all in Heaven what a glorious day that will be truly wonderful. So, I Just have to keep surviving everyday waiting for that moment. It’s tough. Really hard to keep going.

Anyways, it’s hard because I don’t want these entries to become a compulsion or obsession, either, it’s really just a way for me to vent out these feelings out into the world. It’s been a while since I’ve had time to do it, and with time it’s tricky to get into the notion of using it all up and trying to be efficient all the time using it. Look, we’re just here to survive. And like I mentioned to myself earlier, we will be able to earn treasures in Heaven too, rewards in Heaven. We all receive the equal reward that everyone will be equally saved by Jesus Christ through faith alone that’s true. And our treasures is our relationships, so if we give so much that we hurt ourselves and our family, we can’t give through any means by time and value because we’ll starve and die.

It's like giving blood. You can give some of your blood, but make it so frequent and all the time that you end up going unconscious and your life is cut short. Life is like a marathon like said in the Bible, you can’t go the whole time full on sprint accomplishing things rushing things. Just, act based on opportunities and situations that present yourself in your life. Something comes up, hey let me act on that. Sort of thinking. Because seeking out stuff all the time is an easy way to get tired and burnt out it’s tiring really tiring.  

2 Corinthians 5:19: "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself."