The Buck Doesn't Stop Here.

Last week, we talked about financial giving at Living Stones. We talk about it quite a bit (and with good reason). Jesus addresses our heart's affections toward money more than any other topic, which should give us plenty of motivation to take a good, hard look at where we're storing up treasure.

Here are some hypotheticals. Spending a lot of money on entertainment? Maybe you worship comfort or look to it as an escape from your less-than-ideal reality. Are you just one swipe away from maxing out another credit card in order to furnish your wardrobe? Hmm. Could be vanity, could be insecurity, could be keeping up appearances. Sending a bunch of your Abe Lincolns, George Washingtons and Andrew Jacksons to restaurants, maybe multiple times a day? Maybe there's some laziness to address or opulence to confront.

Again, those are hypotheticals. But the principal remains: you put your money where your heart is. Pretty straightforward. God, however, even with the most talked-about topics, never stops unfolding deeper layers, uncovering what isn't readily visible. True to form, he opened my eyes to things I hadn't thought about as I listened to the sermon and as I continue to mull it over this week. See how the apostle John describes the kind of giving that goes on in heaven:

"...the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.'" —Revelation 4:10-11

Never before have I recognized how giving is truly an eternal activity. The buck really doesn't stop here. We don't make sacrifices—financial or otherwise—now and look forward to a day when we won't have to anymore. We give now because we're never going to stop giving! In giving, we're engaging in the very activity that we'll be doing for eternity... joyfully laying down all we are and all we have in praise of a very worthy God. 

Does this sound like heaven to you? Always giving, always praising? If this doesn't sound good now, will it sound good to you when the time comes? If it doesn't sound good to us now, when will it sound good? Ever? Our view of who God is and what he's done for us is too often too small. He is completely and utterly worthy of all we have and are. When will the day come that we (and I) realize that? The pattern of heaven giving and praising, not hoarding and getting and keeping and gaining. The pattern of hell is all self, all the time. What's the pattern of your life? What's the pattern of mine?