Six Dollars Worth of God
THE LAID-BACK LIFE STYLE of the 1950s in a small Alabama town was a great time and place to be a teenager. One of those joys was my first car, a 1949 Ford. Each day I would go to the local service station and put twenty-five cents worth of gasoline in my highly esteemed vehicle, which would purchase enough to get by for that day. In today’s economy that would be about six dollars.
I was living by a principle that said only spend and give what you must and keep the rest in reserve, because you don’t know when you might need it for something more important.
Many try to walk with Christ in the same manner. We want Him in our lives but we want to remain in control. When God told Abraham of the impending doom of Sodom, he was shocked to realize that this meant death for his nephew Lot who lived there. Driven by his love for Lot, Abraham passionately pled with the Lord to spare the city, even at the risk of his own life.
The same passion was found in the Apostle Paul for the salvation of the Jews. Christ taught His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount that “he that hungers and thirsts (for the things of God) SHALL BE FILLED!!†He knew these men would not succeed if they didn’t have a passion for the world they would reach.
What is your passion? As a teen, I wanted to have enough gas for the day but held everything else back in reserve. Are you holding back, or is passion for the lost driving you to give it all like Abraham, Paul, or Christ? I don’t know how much of Christ you have. But there is one thing of which I am certain—YOU HAVE ALL THAT YOU NEED! Don’t hold anything back—give it all for Him today.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
(By Dr. Robert W. Claytor, Seneca, South Carolina, TFC Alumnus, TFC Faculty. Taken from the book: Leaves From the Tree God Planted © 2006 by Toccoa Falls College, p. 116-117)