30 Wisdom SayingsSample

SAYING 9: ALL I HAVE, ALL I WILL GIVE

Fortunately for us, many of the 30 sayings of the wise sage in Proverbs revolve around relationships.  How to be true with one another.  I am always stopped by the verse in Proverbs that reads "honesty is like a kiss on the lips."  To be true with each other requires the intimacy of honesty. 

The intention is addressed in this dinner we are having today in verses 6-8.  With the stingy, tightfisted host who has invited you for whatever reason to his home for a meal, what you are served is a pot full of ‘begrudging stew.’  What is ‘begrudging stew?’ 

That attitude of "I was forced into this dinner," "I don't want to be here and I live here," "I don't like these people but I have to look good in front of them," and "Look what I am spending for this guy."

"I need the account so I am buying her an expensive meal." "I have an image." "These people are not my kind but I have to serve."  

Watch out.  Do not be that host.  Do not even be that guest.  Better not to go to this dinner in the first place if you know him or her to be a selfish person.

God gives us a glimpse into the ‘selfish heart’ which is always focused on the money, not on the relationship, and is insincere in speech.  It is better if we stay clear of that kind of relationship for ‘we will want to throw up what is eaten.’  The dinner will be unsettling in our spirits.  What a foul taste it will leave in our mouths and souls when we know a ‘friend’ withholds goodness or is showing goodness but has the opposite intent.   

The extreme contrast is the image of the Lord's Supper in the Gospel of Matthew.

The Host, Jesus, gathers his beloved 12 around him in a precious place and draws them close with bread and wine.   

"While they were eating, Jesus took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.' Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, 'Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'"  In this famous scene, Jesus offers all He has.  He is expressing to His family of followers that He would gladly give His body and blood for them and it would be for the forgiveness of sins for all humanity.  The meal was sacrifice, love and forgiveness. 

What a delicious meal to be served!  At the end of the night, everyone was changed (except one). They were transformed not by the food, but by the host.  

Let us take note of how we do business today. We will not serve God with a tight fist but an open hand that says, "ALL I HAVE, I WILL GIVE." The heart is reshaped when we become open-handed and sacrificial, and it will invite God to multiply what is in our hands. 

- Pastor Kim McManus

 ACTION

Serve someone with open hands and an open heart. Trust that God will replenish whatever you give away in the service of others.

 PRAYER

Jesus, our Good Host, make us people who are thoroughly sacrificial in the serving of our lives to this world.