Making it Count

Because we recently switched Internet service providers and my efforts to link my ISP email to my Outlook were continually frustrated (!!!), I decided to “shop” for an email address elsewhere. For reasons I’m still fuzzy on, I settled on hotmail (there didn’t seem to be any great advantage of one free email service over another, but then I did only a cursory review).

What does this have to anything to do with God or the church? Well… it all goes back a short month ago when I was reading the book “The Hole in Our Gospel,” by Richard Stearns (President of World Vision). This is an excellent book that is tops on my recommended reading list if you want to get a new perspective on our call as followers of Christ. Many stories relaying the realities the majority of people in this world face are contained in its pages along with Scripture references which correlate to the anecdotes or point being made.

In a section dealing with stewardship, Stearns recalls the parable of the talents – you know where two of the guys double the talents they’re given and one guy decides to hide his, so his master’s ROI is zilch. Though this is an extremely familiar story, God tweaked my Spirit anew as I was reading His Words in the context of this eye-opening book (I LOVE it when He does that!), especially when he (Stearns) likened these servants to the modern day stockbroker.

A new thought struck me…everything we have belongs to God – material possessions, skills, abilities, time – and it’s all on loaner from our Creator. If repaying interest on a loan is standard practice here on earth, perhaps God expects the same thing in an eternal, kingdom of heaven sort of way?!

Instead of being a daunting thought, this seemed like a fun challenge and is changing my perspective on what I do with my time, resources and abilities. Which brings me back to the email…

I was excited to discover that hotmail offers its account holders the chance to give back to a charitable organization just by sending an email. All the user has to do is select which organization to support and a tag is added to the signature. For every email sent, money is donated to the selected nonprofit. What a cool way to do more for God’s kingdom!

I love the way God brings opportunities our way to serve Him. All we need to do is pray for this heart change and then wait for God to reveal how He will answer this prayer.

"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." Psalm 24:1 NIV, emphasis mine)

Making it count for Christ,
Andrea