Welcome to 2MinuteMark, a weekly email with one agenda– Inspiration from God’s Word.
It was a beautiful watch—
A gift from work,
For going above and beyond.
A lofty sales goal met.
But my friend Christian moves too quickly
For fancy watches or jewelry
To slow him down.
The first Sunday after receiving it,
He wore it to church.
A few people noticed.
A couple made comments.
But one young man was mesmerized.
“What a beautiful watch,” he said.
“It’s the most gorgeous watch I’ve ever seen.”
Without hesitation,
Without thinking,
Christian slipped it off his wrist.
“Here,” he said. “It’s yours.”
The young man was stunned.
The gesture didn’t compute.
Why would someone give someone like him
Such a beautiful watch?
Christian didn’t have an explanation.
He just knew—
It was the right thing to do.
The young man accepted the gift,
Still dazed.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
Many of us use logic.
Some of us use percentages.
(Actually, not a bad idea.)
But logic and percentages
Often miss the point of generosity.
If we want to be truly generous,
We must embrace irrationality.
Jesus applauds its craziness.
As a woman anointed Him
With the most expensive perfume,
The disciples protested:
“Why this waste? They asked.
This perfume could have been sold at a high price
And the money given to the poor.”
— Matthew 26:8–9
The poor—
A worthy focus of generosity.
Who could argue?
Apparently, Jesus.
He reminded them:
“The poor you will always have with you.”
Poverty arrived when mankind chose sin.
It’s a fixture of our fallen world.
And it will remain.
Generosity has many facets—
Need and relationships,
Purpose and fulfillment,
Timing and trust.
But in the end, it comes down to this:
What is my priority?
We won’t cure poverty.
(That may be news to some.)
But there is a solution—
Not a logical, dollars-and-cents solution,
But an eternal one.
A relationship.
Rooted in God’s priority for us:
Love God.
Love others.
It will cost us—
Not just a year’s wages
Like the perfume,
But a lifetime.
A few Sundays later,
The young man approached Christian.
“I was done with church,” he said.
“That was going to be my last Sunday.
But I prayed,
‘God, please give me a visible sign
That You’re real.’”
He held up the watch.
Smiling, he said, “I’m back.”
(Am I ready for a similar life-enhancing generosity??)
–Mark Coblentz Walnut Creek Cheese & Market