Money Choice

Mark 12: ¹³ Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. ¹⁴ When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?”

But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” ¹⁶ So they brought it.

And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

And they marveled at Him.

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Having a little “disposable” money on my hands made me feel a bit experimental. I did a test with an amount that I felt was “small” at the time. I plunged into day trading along with others around me. Not knowing what stocks were good, I asked around and chose a penny stock. When the stock fell, I watched my experiment turn into zero.

• There have been times when I stared at “my” bank account.
• There have been times when I paid close attention to “my” investments.
• There have been times when I looked for other opportunities to diversify “my” portfolio.

The greedy church leaders wanted more money to support their lifestyle. They were accustomed to a certain lifestyle that JESUS was tearing apart.

They did not look for opportunities to give to the poor; rather increase their robes in their closet and possibly expand the building. JESUS saw right through their plot as they tried to approach HIM on the legal technicalities of giving and called them hypocrites.

• JESUS says to me “When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others.”
• JESUS says to me “When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.”
• JESUS says to me “When you give to the needy, your FATHER, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Name the needy person you have served with your tithes and offerings. “Put a face to the person who has benefited from your sacrificial giving” is what the LORD says to me. “Give GOD the things that are GOD’s” such as compassion for those in need.

• Are you giving without knowing who you are giving to?
• What specific people are you helping right now?
• Can you start placing a name on those whom GOD wants you to show compassion?