Conduit or Cul-de-Sac?

Conduit or Cul-de-Sac?

Luke 12:48 “From the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

We are blessed to be a blessing.

John Piper writes on the subject of money: “The point is: a $70,000 salary does not have to be accompanied by a $70,000 lifestyle. God is calling us to be conduits of His grace, not cul-de-sacs. Our great danger today is thinking that the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn’t. Copper will do. No matter how grateful we are, gold will not make the world think that our God is good; it will make people think that our god is gold.”

Hmm… Does your life look like your God is good, or your God is gold? Ouch! My pastor’s 18-year-old brother died in his arms because he couldn’t afford £3 for the medicine across the pharmacy counter. It’s a sick world, isn’t it? Think what a difference you can make by being sacrificially generous. Copper or gold? Conduit or cul-de-sac?

Now you may or may not have spare money with which to bless other people, but gauging our level of blessing by the state of our finances is way too narrow. Living in one of the poorest countries in the world forces me, positively, to count my blessings on a regular basis. I have an education. I eat more than one meal a day. I can afford to go to a doctor when I get sick. I have access to clean water. I am free to tell people about Jesus. These, and many more besides, are incredible blessings. Too often we focus on what we don’t have rather than on what we do have.

So beyond your money (or lack of it), please recognize afresh today how you are deeply blessed. Be grateful. Enjoy. And God wants you to pass on that blessing to others.

Lord Jesus, I choose to be a conduit of your blessing, not a cul-de-sac. Show me whom you want me to bless today. Amen!