Day 12 - 21 Day Bible Reading Plan

John 12:

"[Judas] said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put in it." (v.6) Two things came to mind as I read Judas' reaction to Mary anointing Jesus with the expensive perfume.

First, although most of us would not ever think of ourselves as thieves, most of us are. We certainly wouldn't rob a bank or take money from someone's wallet or take something from a store without paying for it. But we may be on Facebook or other social media on our employer's time or use the employer's (or maybe even our church) office equipment and paper to print personal things. We may "borrow" file folders and paper clips and pens and all sorts of things and never give it a second thought...never asking if we can have personal use of them and never returning them. The biggie here, though, is our tithes and offerings. Not putting God first in the area of our finances is the worst case of thievery.

The second thought I had was about the phrase, "not because he cared about the poor". I was reminded of something Perry said a few weeks ago in his Upgrade series message called Stronger. He said he could understand people disagreeing with him but he just couldn't understand and was hurt by the lies people tell. There are people who deliberately try to hurt him and his family emotionally, even leaving notes in the mailbox for his wife and for his 3 year old daughter.

My thought that related this to this passage was these people say these things, not because they care about the lost, which is Perry's passion, they only care about their agenda. God is doing amazing things through the Bible teaching at NewSpring Church. I don't know why this would make people mean and angry except that they just don't love God.

Mark 12:

"And He called His disciples to Him and said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box." (v.43) Jesus is after our hearts. If our hearts are fully surrendered to Him we will not worry about not having enough. Like this poor woman we will surrender all we have for the glory of God including our money, our time, our gifts and talents.

When I was in Kenya, I met people living 5 to a house made of sticks and mud and about 10' across. They had no electricity, no running water, dirt floors. The children walked 2 or 3 miles each way to get to school. The mothers walked up to 5 miles to get fresh water and then carried buckets of it back to the house. These are some of the poorest people in the world. But on Sunday, they came to worship Jesus. They gave their small coins in the offering plate. They gave verbal testimony to the goodness of God. They sang and danced and praised God for all that He has done for them. How could I, who have so much, ever begrudge anything God asks me to give or do.

(As a footnote, many of these people have water in their community now because of the generosity of time and resources of the people of NewSpring Church.)