CAMPBELLTON,  New Brunswick, March 5, 2024 – Imagine if all God’s children took the talents God gave them and invested them solely in God’s Kingdom. Imagine if all God’s children took their wisdom or their intelligence or their athleticism or their creativity and gave it all to God so that he could redistribute those talents where they were needed most, to help those who need them most.

Imagine if all God’s children took the very best parts of themselves and gave them all back to God.

When you give the best that you have to the service of God’s Kingdom, God magnifies it, perfects it, focuses it, and invests it. So instead of one talent, you have ten, and instead of ten talents, you have a hundred, and those talents are dispersed and mixed and spread and massaged until they take root in the darkness and drive it away. God does more with your talents than you or the devil could possibly do, because he knows where those talents are needed most and because the devil is there, too, waiting in the wings. Oh, you’d better believe the devil is there, biding his time and waiting to catch your eye to give you The Offer™. Jesus isn’t the only one standing outside knocking; the devil is knocking, too, only he wants to pay you for your talents.

He wants you to expect payment.

Big payment.

He wants you to think that payment in exchange for your talents is your birthright.

But payment is the devil’s way of owning you.

“You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Giving the best of yourself to the service of God’s Kingdom means giving it without expecting payment. But why would you do that? Why would you give away for free what can make you money? When we financialize the talents God gives us to use in his service, we’re serving mammon, not God. It’s a very simple and very clear distinction.

Jesus never sold the Gospel. He never charged for his healings. He fed the thousands for free. He never begged or asked for donations. Paul likewise never charged for his service to God. None of the apostles did. They went without food and shelter rather than charge a fee. Their poverty was a test, as ours is for us.

Imagine if all God’s children took the very best part of themselves and gave it to God, like Jesus did, expecting nothing in return.

Imagine if everything we did was all and only for the glory of God.