"You lack only one thing," he told him. "Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." –Mark 10:21

I was thinking about this verse this morning and questions bounced around in my head:  Did Jesus mean it when He told the rich man to sell everything and give it to the poor?  Does He mean for us to do that?

As Americans we have a lot.  We eat out regularly, we have more clothing than we have time to wear and we somehow manage to support the makers of all the latest gadgets, yet children are dying from simple things like lack of water and we can’t find the funding to finally eliminate diseases like cancer.

Is this really how we should be spending – after all, isn’t it all God’s money?  If Jesus was any example of how God would spend, I don’t think it’s inaccurate to believe that He’d want us to use our resources feeding and nurturing the poor.

“Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” –Malachi 3:10

Did you know that tithing is down to a percentage lower than it was during the years of the Depression?  This verse says that if we give to God’s purposes, God will give us even more than we started with – He’d “throw open the floodgates!”  (Of course, I don’t think that should be the motivation for our giving and I’m not sure that this blessing would apply to selfish intentions.)  What’s more, it’s possible that through this giving, we would come to realize what real blessing is and that it has nothing to do with financial value – and that might be what God’s offering here.

So what would happen if we were to give up everything to the poor and follow Christ?  We would have treasure in heaven, God would bless us with even more, and the world might actually find peace and prosperity. I read a survey that says over 70% of Americans claim to be Christians.  If there are that many people in the richest country in the world who would be willing to give up their wealth, there would be no third world countries because there would be enough money to support food, health care and education to everyone in the world.  We could have money for cancer research and an AIDS vaccine.

And we could show the world Christ.  I can’t imagine anything that would make a greater impact except Jesus’ return – and by then it may be too late!