In this chapter I see two different topics: Giving and Living.
I have a friend, his name is Gene. Most of you may know him. My home church has a car repair ministry and he is the one that runs it. It's a Non-profit organization and the work for the Kingdom. Gene is the one who runs the shop. He used to have a really good job running his own repo business, then he sold that and went to work on semis. He got fired from there, or quit, I can't remember, but then he went to work at Restoration. One of the first big jobs that he did was work on my sisters car. She blew her engine on her way to Michigan for vacation. This happened because she never got an oil change. (Make sure you have your oil changed kids.) Gene did this in his spare time for little money for the benefit of another.
After his last job with semis, he started up with Restoration. With Restoration, like any other ministry, he has to raise his funds. This is tough on him and his family, but they make do. They got a nice place to live, vehicles, and they're not going hungry, plus they got some extra. Whenever I hang out with this guy for lunch or if I'm running errands for him he's always trying to pay for my gas or my lunch. He has such a big heart that he's always willing to give. He doesn't look years down the road, he realized that may never come, but he's always in the moment looking to serve.
The next story is similar, but with a different focus. As opposed to freely giving and serving, this one is about living in the moment.
Recently I went to camp, didn't know anyone there except the dean and really only met him once before that. It's a high school week, I don't know anyone, I'm just kind of there floating around. I'm a quiet guy. Don't talk much, try to stay under radar, pretty awkward at times; it's fun stuff. So while at camp you'd expect me to be rocking Socially Awkward Penguin memes. Well I've noticed at camp over the years that there are kids in the same position that I'm in. They're kinda awkward, other kids don't know how to deal with them so they shy away from them. Those kids just stay quiet and to themselves, never really coming out of their shells. Those are the kids that I flock to. I get to know them a bit, show them some love of Christ, whatever. If there was no one like that at camp though, I'd be sitting in a corner having life happen all around me and just observing it. But when those kids are around I have to step up, because I know what that's like. Then at camp I basically come alive, coming out of my shell, not observing but participating. I play the games, the run around, I get sweaty and dirty and do things without thinking them through, like playing football on a possibly broken toe because 'Mercia that's why. Camp fire comes around and Romans 16.19 is started I do everything I can to drown everyone else out and get them loud and pumped. It's good times. But during those times I do stuff, I live. We're told in Ecclesiastes 11 that all of us are to do this. A great clip from a movie is basically saying this exact same thing.
The clip is kind of, well, ghetto, but it's still worth a watch.
We are to enjoy that life that we have. Run around! Have fun! Make friends and get outside your box!
But there is something incredibly important here that you should take notice of in verse 9.
You have to answer to
God for every last bit of it
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