Give It Away

Yesterday on a flight from Texas to Utah I finally reached first class status on an airline. Yahoo! As we were walking onto the plane I didn't know what kind of luxuries were ahead or how much of a difference there was between us and other passengers.

Settling into a bigger seat with more leg room, most would think that this was going to be one of the best flights of my life thus far.
Truth was it was awful From the moment the first class passengers were welcomed onto the plane, I was unsettled.

love Jesus.

Why were we treated so differently, we did nothing to deserve it. As everyone else was patiently awaiting the drink cart with complimentary soft drinks to come around-we were offered warm towels, a full breakfast, and a continuous questioning of our comfort.

Finally arriving, I was so grateful just to get off the plane.

Why was this luxury so hard for me to accept, why didn't I just enjoy it?

Those who love pleasure become poor; wine and luxury are not the way to riches. ~Proverbs 21:17

I am no different than anyone else on the plane, and it broke my heart that those I was surrounded by felt their contentment was based off of them getting the beverage they thirst for or if the airline had the fresh fruit they were craving for breakfast.

In first class we were getting anything and everything that we needed. Here in the United States in particular in comparison to other parts of the World we have access to nearly everything that we could ever imagine needing or desiring...including the gospel, a church to go to, fellow believers to worship with, worship music, and bibles in our native tongue.

For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. ~Matthew 18:20

The lifestyle that I've been blessed with has left me longing for very little, which makes it that much harder to fathom people in this world who are living off of $2 dollars a day (I go through this much at a single vending machine stop) or of people who go to bed each night having no idea where there next meal comes from. But even more crazy is to think there are people in this world who haven't even been given the opportunity to reject the Gospel.

Millions of people have NEVER
EVEN HAD THE CHANCE TO REJECT JESUS CHRIST.

On the plane I was only rejecting a first class seat, but at least I had the opportunity to turn it down. Wanting nothing more than to give it to someone else, I spent the majority of the flight in prayer with a growing burden for those people in this world who have so little.

Granted, we are a giving society. I read in an article "A Nation of Givers" that we as a society can take comfort in the amount that we do give. In 2008 it was an estimated $307.65 billion. According to statistics that's 7x a much as the Germans and 14x as much as the Italians-even more comfort in how much we give.

Yet, monetary giving doesn't even hold a candle to the real gift that we should be trying to give. Maybe you're not giving up a first class plane ticket or going overseas for a missions trip, but what can we be doing to move the Gospel forward throughout the world?

Are we doing everything that we possibly can to give the Gospel away?
In our actions? In our words? With our Money? In prayer?

Don't store your treasure here on earth, where they can be eaten by
moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. ~Matthew 6:19