I'd like to tell you a story from the Bible about a man who had a barn. Its found in the Gospel of Luke.
Luke 12:16 begins the story. " The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I wil tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."
But God said to him, 'You FOOL! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"
Though barns are good things to have and farmers need them, Jesus was making the point about being selfish and greedy. In that day some dishonest people would hire others to tend their fields and then after the harvest not pay them at all! The attitude of this man should have been more giving.
Every so often in my work I earn overtime pay. There is always the temptation to make plans as to how I will spend this extra income on myself. I do have many expenses to be sure, but it always seems that others are more in need than myself.
Elsewhere in the Bible we read "Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down and running over." I'll leave it to you to discover that verse. Now we should not give with the thought that we are to expect something in return, but this is the law of the sower and the seed. The farmer sows seeds and they are expected to grow into the plant of its kind and produce a crop. Now if you were given some apples let's say and God told you it was ok to eat them what would you do? A wise man would perhaps share an apple or two with his family or friends. An even wiser man would plant seeds from one or more so that in time an apple tree would grow and perhaps produced hundreds of apples!
Now those apple trees don't grow up and produce fruit in just a few days. No! It may take years for that to happen.
I want to encourage you to be generous. God knows your need and he will not let you go hungry.
Its a matter of trust in God I suppose. "Test me, try me, prove me" says the Lord "and see if I will not pour out on you a blessing which you cannot contain." (paraphrased)
So when you see a neat old barn just remember to thank God for His blessings and ask Him how He wants you to use those blessings to help others.
