What can you possibly give?

Honor God with everything you own;

    give him the first and the best.  Proverbs 3:9 The Message

I love the song, The Little Drummer Boy. I picture the poor little boy looking around at his meager Earthly possessions, the ragged clothes he wore, a tattered blanket which he wrapped around him as he slept at night, and his drum. Surely the infant lying in the manger wouldn’t want his clothes or his blanket and if he gave the baby his drum, his livelihood, the boy would have no means to earn a living, he wouldn’t be able to feed himself. But maybe, the boy said to himself, maybe I can play my drum for the newborn king.

It reminds me of the parable of the woman who only gave two mites as her offering at the temple. To the wealthy men around her, it looked as if she had given so very little. But Jesus knew that she had given everything she had.

The amount of our offering isn’t what matters. What we should give to God is our very best, whether it is our money, our possessions, our time or our talents. Look at what He gave us? His very own Son.  

This Christmas season, when you are finished with your shopping – or have just given up on buying all the presents on your list – think about giving to the church or charity of your choice. If you are plum out of money right now, give your time or talents. Someone out there needs you.

And in your prayers, don’t forget the families suffering in Connecticut. 

Some of the charities I support. 

Compassion International   I sponsor a little girl in India through Compassion. I also witnessed two of their projects when I was in Kenya. They totally do what they claim - rescuing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

HEART  This is the organization that I worked with while I was in Kenya. You should check them out and see the work that Vickie is continuing to do.

CSI Ministries - Kenya  This is the organization that Dave and Jen Bell are working with now in Kenya. They were our Team leaders when I went to Africa, and I know where their hearts are and that any money you donate is going directly to help the orphans they work with.

Kinship  If you want your time and money to help out kids closer to home, get involved with a group like Kinship, if they are in your community, or Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Spend just a few hours a week making a difference in the life of a kid; you may be the only positive adult role model that child has.

Life Promotions Life Promotions is the group that puts on Lifest. But Lifest is just the party at the end of their year, the rest of the time they are reaching out to youth across the country, instilling them with hope.