A family connection posted this photo on FB, shared from someone else's status (Elevate). Beneath it was a quote from Mother Theresa: "Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and start with the person nearest you." I initially just glossed over it, but something caught my eye, and I came back to have another look.
There's a beggar, possibly homeless; probably sleeping in a shack or somewhere worse. There's a guy who obviously isn't. He notices that she doesn't have shoes, so he stops, takes off his sandals, and gives them to her.
Then he walks away, barefoot.
I'm not a typical girl - I don't have oodles and oodles of shoes. Those shoes I do have, I wear until they are literally falling apart before I resort to buying new ones. When I buy shoes, I buy practical, long-lasting, shoes; shoes that are comfortable; shoes that I eventually fall deeply madly truly in love with because I spend so much time in them.
I've been in situations like that before, where I could have given my shoes away. I've not done that because then I would walk away barefoot.
Yet, does it matter if I'm barefoot - I can afford to buy another pair. The beggar can't.
And that's the bottom line of God's economy - those to whom much is given, much is to be given away. It's the get-to-give philosophy. I often dream about winning the Lotto, but I never buy a ticket because I know God wouldn't let my number come up. I know this because I know that a) he wants us to be reliant on him alone and b) he knows that if I did win, I would keep most of the money for myself.
I keep coming back to this photo. That guy's got the right attitude to money. He's got an attitude of generosity, while I still have a mentality of selfishness. I've got a long way to go still.
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