Another Monday

So I almost cut my thumb off while cutting up onions to make spaghetti. Thankfully my knife is so dull that it did little more than scratch it.

I was listening to the Imago Dei Community podcast while at work today, and Rick told a story about a friend of his that put an interesting perspective on things. I can only paraphrase it so bear with me. He had a friend named Shane that was involved in some sort of accident or something and ended up receiving a settlement of $10,000. Instead of keeping this money, he sent 100 $100 bills out to different churches throughout the area, with an accompanying letter requesting that the money be used to minister to someone that needed it, whether through help in hard financial times, buying someone food, clothes, etc. Rick received one of these $100 bills and spent a while thinking about how it could best be used to take care of someone.

At one point, he was at a grocery store and had to either go to an ATM and get some cash to pay for his groceries, or simply spend the $100 bill and replace it later on. He said that he could not bring himself to spend it, however, for across the front of the money the word "LOVE" was written. It had a special purpose that was not to be compromised.

He then went on to ask, what if every dollar in your wallet had "LOVE" written across it? What if it was printed boldly on your car? On your house? Everything that we have God has given to us to take care of other people. It has a special purpose that is not to be compromised. He then said, "God does not need collectors in His kingdom," which is essentially what our society is founded upon.

Again, I am in awe of what great surrender following Christ requires. It's hard for us to wrap our heads around things like this, and verses like I Cor 6:19-20 - You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. It almost seems too hard for us to deny ourselves to that extent, but we have to keep in mind that God painted "LOVE" across Jesus and willingly gave Him up for us. Despite the pain Jesus knew he would have to endure, he did not compromise. It is the least we can do to follow His uncompromising example and see everything in our possession, even our own lives, with love written across it.