In the previous blog, we discussed the subjects of your estate, and also your inheritance. Now, let’s discover what we can about your agency agreement.
An Agent is a person authorized by another to act for him, one entrusted with another’s business who undertakes to manage the affair and to render to him an account thereof.
I appointed you to go and produce lovely fruit always, so that no matter what you ask or from the Father, using my name, he will give it to you. (John 15:16 TLB)
The term “using my name” is simply the carrying out of the Agency relationship. It is a “power of attorney” to do as His (Jesus’) agent, what He would do, what He would say, what He would request, if He were here personally.
The definition of a “Power of Attorney” is: a written document given by one person or party to another, authorizing the latter to act for the former in specified matters.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Colossians 3:17 NIV)
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. (John 14:13 NIV)
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete. (John 16:24 NIV)
An Agency relationship has been established between Christ and his chosen believers. We are to carry out Christ’s Will here on earth just as if He were here; himself – in person.
But let the Agent be put on notice: Make certain that whatever it is that you are asking for, is what Jesus Christ would have asked for. If you endeavor to acquire and accumulate things for your own selfish manipulation or consumption alone, you will be breaching your fiduciary responsibility. If you use your “power of attorney” to ask for things that Christ would not have asked for, the situation could result in your being charged with forgery.
You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:14 NIV)
Wow! The whole idea of the “Agency Agreement” in relationship with God, Himself, is enough to stretch your mind and challenge your heart! It also makes me think about the tremendous responsibility that goes along with my Personal Inheritance!
YOUR PERSONAL INHERITANCE Part 1 "The Gift Exchange"
We have recently discussed such topics as: “What’s That in Your Hand?”, “Investing,” and “Generational Wealth.” Your kind responses have encouraged me to press on a little bit more with the subject of wealth and inheritance.
Black’s Law Dictionary describes estate as: “. . . a word of the greatest extension, and comprehends every species of property, real and personal.” It describes inheritance as: “. . . an estate in things . . . descending to the heir.” In other words, your inheritance is everything you have received from someone else.
If someone approached you and asked, “How did you get everything you have today?” You would probably reply rather quickly, “I worked for it, Dummy – how’d you get yours?”
You are to be commended for your honesty! But perhaps, the question could be answered with a little more depth. More accurately, it could be stated: “You TRADED for all your acquired possessions.”
When you get up in the morning and start your work day for that favorite employer of yours, you simply trade your skills and time for something known as a paycheck which you give to some kind of a banking institution that allows you to parcel out amounts, that you then trade, to other individuals or enterprises for things you want and need. You may alter this routine at times, but basically, the principle is fundamental.
But as you trace the steps backward, you still come again to the ultimate question . . . “Where did you get the basic commodities that you used as trading material for everything else you wanted and needed?” Short answer – THEY WERE GIVEN TO YOU.
You did not purchase your time allotment which you now hold as a possession . . . It was given to you.
You did not negotiate for your basic physical characteristics . . .You inherited them.
You did not bargain on the open market for your basic intellectual capacities . . . You received them as a gift.
You did not ardently go to battle and finally win the power to choose . . . That power was given to you.
Even the environment in which you move and perform your trading activities came to you as . . . part of your inheritance.
It is of extreme importance for you to recognize that everything you now possess was received directly as a gift or was the by-product of a GIFT EXCHANGE.
One of the often-overlooked phrases used in Christ’s parable of the “Talents” (Matthew 25:14-30), reveals the true origin of all possessions: “To one HE GAVE five talents: To one HE GAVE two: To one HE GAVE one. The simple but all-encompassing phrase, “HE GAVE,” can be traced to the beginning of time . . . the complex concept, “HE GAVE,” reaches beyond the limitation of our imagination.
Ultimately, there is only one source of all possessions, one “sole proprietor” of all that exists, whether ordinary or yet to be discovered. That one sole proprietor is Jehovah God – “Yahweh” – the One who describes himself as: “I am that I am” – equally: past, present, and future:
The Giver of every Good and Perfect Gift
GENERATIONAL WEALTH Whose Shall All These Things Be?
When we talk about “generational wealth”, we usually consider historically rich families; like the Rockefellers, the Carnages, or the Kennedys. In future years we will be comparing the even greater generational wealth of Jeff Bezos ($131 billion), Bill Gates ($100 billion), or the Bernard Arnault family ($94 billion).
As strange as it may seem, however, you also are listed among those experiencing generational wealth. Whether you are a seasoned career specialist, a budding tech genius, or a faithful worker at McDonald’s, you are involved in the phenomenon of wealth. Even if you are a person living on the streets with two stolen bicycles, one stolen grocery store shopping cart, one high-tech tent from REI, a down-filled sleeping bag from Salvation Army, and a waist-band stash-belt filled with all your most precious valuables – you are involved in the wealth experience.
This blog is going to be a little bit different from the over 500 previous weekly blogs shared with you from this author:
Today, we are going to engage in a vitally important exercise in generational wealth. The results are strictly for your eyes only. In fact, you don’t even have to write anything down, if you don’t want to. But at this point in life, and at this point in our slippery culture, it is going to be very necessary for you to at least walk through the process mentally and crystallize where you have been, where you are now, and where you will be in the future.
Our exercise is divided into three parts. Be as thorough as you need to be; be more candid than you thought you would be; be open and receptive to more possibilities and options than you thought you ever had before, regarding the future.
GENERATIONAL WEALTH
1. Wealth Accumulation:
What was your game plan for your personal wealth accumulation when you first started out?
How did that work out for you?
What would you do the same if you had opportunity for a “do-over”?
What would you change about your original game plan?
Why?
2. Wealth Preservation:
Are you presently gaining or losing your accumulated wealth?
What is your present strategy for preserving what you now have?
What is your present strategy for adding to your present accumulation?
Why?
3. Wealth Distribution:
What is you plan, if any, for dividing up or restructuring your accumulated assets?
What is your exit plan for distribution of your total accumulated wealth?
Why?
I hope that this little exercise caught you at exactly the right time. I have become convinced that the true fulfillment of a person is not to be found in what kind or how much wealth he or she has accumulated, but rather in the person’s integrity and ability to positively affect those around them.
“The only question with wealth is, what do you do with it?”
(John D. Rockefeller)
HOW SHALL THEY KNOW? Teaching Money and Value
When I was just a kid, I remember the adults throwing around an economic adage; “shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations.” I kept asking questions until someone finally explained what it meant. Generally speaking, personal wealth goes in cycles. The next generation, unless there is some form of intervention and transformation, will follow an increased trend of expediency and convenience rather than frugality and discipline. It takes real focus and discipline to teach the next generation about issues of money and value.
Convenience for the present generation transforms into entitlement for the next generation. It has been my observation, that you have to consciously tell your money what to do – or it will leave! And what the older folks back yonder were really saying was; that it takes about three generations to go through the wealth/poverty cycle. . . then, the money bag is empty.
I think it was Will Rogers who said, “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”
So, how would this intervention or transformation work in order to break the trend of expediency and avarice that ends up in slothfulness and poverty? Well, the simple answer would be through some type of education – preferably, in the home and in the school. Teaching about money and value needs to be caught as well as taught.
It seems to be quite self-evident, that those filling the parental roles in today’s households, have neither the time, nor the inclination, nor the ability to teach the next generation about basic economic concepts, everyday values, or practical money matters.
Our schools appear to be even more derelict in this regard. Our own Colorado Council for Economic Education warns that, “We send our children out into the world lacking the basic skills to prosper in life; understanding personal finance, and economics.”
Recently, I reviewed a national program offered that was designed to fulfill all your kid’s needs for financial education. The parents could subscribe to a safe app where they would be notified on their cell phone of every financial transaction -- the store and the amount – of the child’s spending activities.
Each one of the kids would receive a personalized Debit Card, that is, parenthetically, connected to a parent’s cell phone. The parents would dump money into an allowance account that is set on auto pilot so you can “set it and forget it.” Another feature, is that the parents can add amounts of additional funds immediately with a few quick clicks, so that the child needs never to be embarrassed when they spend more than their entitled funds.
The educational and guidance aspect of the program is that when the child’s purchase is complete and the transaction notice is received by the parent, then the parent can either praise the child for having gone to the “right” store and having purchased the “right” product – or it can become a teachable moment where the parent can come unglued at the incompetence or improper behavior of the child. That pretty much rounds out the needed economics lesson between the child and the parent.
Perhaps one of the saddest things that has happened to our society has been the loss of the vital and realistic connection between production and consumption. The magical politicians have bamboozled us into thinking that there is a mystical source out there somewhere that makes it possible to continue to fill our debit card accounts with spendable funds to which we are irrefutably entitled.
But the truth is, there is a positive link between the fruits of our labor and the ATM machine. You work and produce something in order to trade your labor supply for the supply of some other worker! It doesn’t work any other way for very long. When the myth is gone, that money and things simply come from Mom and Dad’s magic money machine, (or the government’s illusion of endless supply) then, truth takes the bullhorn and in a deafening thunderbolt of undeniable announcement proclaims, “You work in order to trade your labor supply for the supply of some other worker – nothing happens unless and until you produce something!”
Anna Marie and I were both raised in rural Idaho. I was expected to work and even earn the money to buy my own school clothes from the time I was in 5th grade. Anna Marie’s siblings all had “4-H Projects” on the farm, where they raised their own animals that were eventually taken to the Livestock Auction. There, the animals were exchanged for money. The money received from the sale was only a landing spot until they identified what other purchase they needed to make from the supply of some other worker. But the rational connection was never severed between the pocket full of money and the product of their labor.
I say that I am the “Happiest Man in the World.” But I am also the most fortunate man in the world. For the most part of forty years I have had the opportunity as an economist to travel and work in countries all over the whole world. One of the things I enjoyed most while visiting in over 150 countries was the chance to observe the people and their economic customs and behaviors.
Many times, I would request of my hosts to take me to the market places of the cities and villages so that I could just watch and listen to the local people as they went about their business. I would learn so much about the cultures that I otherwise would have totally missed.
One day, I was just quietly observing a village mother at the market. Her children were with her. They had brought with them items to sell or exchange that were products of their own labor. She was also, quite obviously, explaining to her kids what to look for in the products they were buying. She was teaching them how to bargain for just the right price. I pointed out my observations to my host. He laughed, and then he said to me something I have never been able to get out of my mind. He said:
“IF YOU WANT TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT MONEY . . .
IT IS BETTER IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANY!”
Can you even imagine the welcomed effectiveness of our new family teachers two generations from now when they don’t have anything. . . and they are starting the “shirt sleeve to shirt sleeve” cycle all over again?
LOYALTY To what? - To Whom?
I am absolutely ecstatic about people being totally loyal. . . to me! But I’ve accumulated lots of scar tissue during my lifetime that would cause me to wonder just how a thing like loyalty works. I can show you examples where loyalty that is bought with money can be wiped out with a different infusion of money. Many times, loyalty is auctioned off to the highest bidder. So, it becomes quite easy to generalize and say, “Well, loyalty is from above – betrayal is obviously from below.”
But I am finding that it is all a bit more sophisticated than that. I am observing that unless your life includes some kind of loyalty, you probably won’t be experiencing peace and unity in your everyday life. I observe successful relationships between people and conclude that loyalty must be one of the strongest epoxies available for making relationships whole and secure.
I have also observed that in those successful relationships where loyalty is evident, there is an absolute and astonishing principle involved called “self-sacrifice”. There is evidence of a faithfulness and fidelity that runs deeper than blood. That’s amazing!
So, my curiosity regarding loyalty has now turned from the characteristics of the state or quality of being loyal, to the object of the loyalty. Loyalty to What? Loyalty to Whom?
Maybe we can understand even more about the subject of unwavering devotion and allegiance, if we examine more closely the recipients of the phenomenon. I think it was Mark Twain that gave the advice: “Loyalty to the nation all the time – Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.” Apparently, we have something to say about “To What” and “To whom” we are devotedly loyal.
Recently, I decided to engage in a little exercise to determine “To What” and “To Whom” I would be loyal – and in what order of priority. I am going to be loyal enough to you, to share my list with you:
1. Loyalty to God: Trust is said to be gained: Honesty certainly is appreciated: Respect is said to be earned: Loyalty is returned. No one has been so steadfastly loyal to me and to my family, as God. I will, therefore, be not only spontaneous, but audacious in my loyalty to God. It is a deliberate calculation and choice to return back to Him the loyalty God has proven to me. He is number one on my list of loyalty. I will lay down my life for Him on a daily basis, because His honor is at stake in my body.
2. Loyalty to My Family: -- I call it my “procreation commonality” – that narrows it down from many, to a very few (I know that in the next ten years I will be able to come up with a better descriptor than “procreation commonality”, but it is the best I can do for now). On a daily basis, I intend to honor my close family with all the possible loyalty that I can imagine and deliver. I am confident in their passionate loyalty to me.
3. Loyalty to the Herd: The herd consists of “mankind” -- mostly of institutions, e.g. my country, churches, boards, schools, governments, friends, charity organizations, charity donors, charity recipients, my readers, business associates, etc.
The passion and intensity of my loyalty seems to coincide with the priority ranking of my loyalty list. My fierce loyalty to #1 and #2, listed above, gives me the wisdom and understanding how to prioritize #3.
I challenge you to take time to examine your current loyalty list -- and compare it with your ideal loyalty list.
I would welcome the opportunity to be loyal to you.
LOYALTY To What ? - To Whom ?
I am absolutely ecstatic about people being totally loyal. . . to me! But I’ve accumulated lots of scar tissue during my lifetime that would cause me to wonder just how a thing like loyalty works. I can show you examples where loyalty that is bought with money can be wiped out with a different infusion of money. Many times, loyalty is auctioned off to the highest bidder. So, it becomes quite easy to generalize and say, “Well, loyalty is from above – betrayal is obviously from below.”
But I am finding that it is all a bit more sophisticated than that. I am observing that unless your life includes some kind of loyalty, you probably won’t be experiencing peace and unity in your everyday life. I observe successful relationships between people and conclude that loyalty must be one of the strongest epoxies available for making relationships whole and secure.
I have also observed that in those successful relationships where loyalty is evident, there is an absolute and astonishing principle involved called “self-sacrifice”. There is evidence of a faithfulness and fidelity that runs deeper than blood. That’s amazing!
So, my curiosity regarding loyalty has now turned from the characteristics of the state or quality of being loyal, to the object of the loyalty. Loyalty to What? Loyalty to Whom?
Maybe we can understand even more about the subject of unwavering devotion and allegiance, if we examine more closely the recipients of the phenomenon. I think it was Mark Twain that gave the advice: “Loyalty to the nation all the time – Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.” Apparently, we have something to say about “To What” and “To whom” we are devotedly loyal.
Recently, I decided to engage in a little exercise to determine “To What” and “To Whom” I would be loyal – and in what order of priority. I am going to be loyal enough to you, to share my list with you:
1. Loyalty to God: Trust is said to be gained: Honesty certainly is appreciated: Respect is said to be earned: Loyalty is returned. No one has been so steadfastly loyal to me and to my family, as God. I will, therefore, be not only spontaneous, but audacious in my loyalty to God. It is a deliberate calculation and choice to return back to Him the loyalty God has proven to me. He is number one on my list of loyalty. I will lay down my life for Him on a daily basis, because His honor is at stake in my body.
2. Loyalty to My Family: -- I call it my “procreation commonality” – that narrows it down from many, to a very few (I know that in the next ten years I will be able to come up with a better descriptor than “procreation commonality”, but it is the best I can do for now). On a daily basis, I intend to honor my close family with all the possible loyalty that I can imagine and deliver. I am confident in their passionate loyalty to me.
3. Loyalty to the Herd: The herd consists of “mankind” -- mostly of institutions, e.g. my country, churches, boards, schools, governments, friends, charity organizations, charity donors, charity recipients, my readers, business associates, etc.
The passion and intensity of my loyalty seems to coincide with the priority ranking of my loyalty list. My fierce loyalty to #1 and #2, listed above, gives me the wisdom and understanding how to prioritize #3.
I challenge you to take time to examine your current loyalty list -- and compare it with your ideal loyalty list.
I would welcome the opportunity to be loyal to you.
TRUTH? 1/2 Truth + Anything = LIE
Truth is conformity with reality or fact regarding that which is, that which has been, or that which shall be.
We had a family friend back in the 1950s named W. Clement Stone. He was a very wealthy insurance tycoon in Chicago and the successful author of such books as, “Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude”. I remember him saying, “Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbeliefs, or ignorance.” I was in high school at that time and was beginning to pay attention to such ideas. It was also about that time when I was hearing our heart-throb idol, Elvis Presley telling us that truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time but it ain’t goin’ away. At some point back there, I locked into the idea that truth was truth.
Do you ever kind of get “homesick” for a time and place in the past years of your life, when you would hear someone say something to you, and what they said to you was just the simple truth? You could relax in what they said. You could go from there with enough confidence to perhaps even use what they had said to influence you and help you make a good decision, that would help shape the very future of your own life. You could count on them telling you the truth.
I have to admit that I have become bothered lately with how we handle this phenomenon called truth. Expedience seems to be the new referee judging and calling the shots. Culture seems to give a green flag to being able to say whatever needs to be said at the given moment that will advance the desired narrative. The true story may be at the other end of the playing field.
It seems to me that it’s the lies that are invented – but the truth continues to exist somewhere in the mess. Recently, it has been the truth that becomes difficult to discover as I try to dig through the mess.
That “homesick” feeling for the truth that I have been experiencing, has led me to do a bit of introspection. I’m glad that I still have fond memories of a culture of truth, and that I still have a deep longing to once again enjoy its security and stability. I have also focused on a new resolve in my own life -- to be sensitive and more keenly aware of my own inner thoughts and intentions and determine with all there is of me to be a man of truth.
Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgements endureth forever. (Ps. 119:160 KJV)
As we, the people created in the image of God, embrace truth, then our character becomes good because our character is the sum total of all we decided, by choice, to accept. When I was a kid, someone told me that if you tell the truth, it becomes a part of your past. If you tell a lie it becomes part of your future. AND THAT’S THE TRUTH!
INVESTING Equity Management
In the late 1960’s, three industrious brothers started a company in Colorado known as “Jackson Brothers Investments, Ltd.” We weren’t all that knowledgeable about the fine nuances of higher finance or market domination. We did, however, possess some innate and intuitive insights regarding value for value, leverage, and creative negotiation. We were confident and eager.
My most favorite financier in the whole world was my hero, Noah: It was said that “he was able to float all of his stock, while all the rest of the world was in liquidation.” That was good enough for me!
The starting of “Jackson Brothers Investments, Ltd.” was well over 50 years ago. I have learned some valuable lessons, both personally and financially, since the early days.
One of the universal principles of investing is that I can hold on too tightly and lose everything, or become richer by being willing to relinquish assets that I have. The spirit of selfishness and hording trumps wisdom and blocks me from the subtle insights as to what and when I should let go.
The tighter I grasp on to something, the faster it squeezes right through my fingers, and suddenly it’s gone. The principle is equally true for corporations, institutions, and individuals. Good equity management simply makes good sense.
Personally, our appreciated and time-valued talents and possessions are very time-sensitive. All of our clocks are ticking – just in case you hadn’t noticed. Our personal inventories are overflowing, even if we don’t feel so wealthy today.
Here’s what I’ve learned from the investment business:
What I hoard I lose. All that is not given away is lost. What I grasp too tightly, I squeeze right through my fingers, and it’s gone. But what I give away and plant in the lives of others returns to me in multiplied measure.
Let me share with you a thought from one of my favorite writers regarding equity management:
Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love-gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard a thing for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded (see Exodus 16:20). God will never allow you to keep a spiritual blessing completely for yourself. It must be given back to Him so that He can make it a blessing to others. (Oswald Chambers)
SIGNIFICANCE The Impact of Goodness
Positive cultural significance does not lie in wealth or power, but rather, in character and goodness of the individual.
It was the brilliant Albert Einstein who reminded us that, “True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness.” I think we need to hear more about this subject in our present-day culture.
I have always been intrigued with the dedicated life of an American businessman by the name of Dwight L. Moody. My first introduction to this man’s significance was through an old “brown-tone” photograph that hung in the living room of the home of my maternal grandparents. It was a picture of Mr. Moody speaking to a huge group of people, and it was my understanding that my “grandpa” had heard Dwight L. Moody speak when “grandpa” was just a young boy. I was also fascinated with the story that during World War II, the Liberty Ship “SS Dwight L. Moody” was named in his honor.
Moody was born in 1837 in the little town of Northfield. Massachusetts. His father died at an early age of 41, leaving his widow in poverty . . . and a large mortgage on the home.
The creditors grabbed everything they could, including the family’s stack of firewood. Mrs. Moody tried to keep her family of nine children not only together, but together in the little local Sunday School. It’s said they were so poor that the boys would carry their shoes and stockings in their hands on their way to the church to keep them from wearing out, and putting them back on only when they were in sight of the church.
By the time Dwight was 17, he had become a successful shoe salesman for Holton’s Shoe Store. Moody’s life notably changed after his Sunday School teacher dropped by the shoe store one day and invited Dwight to become a true follower of Jesus Christ. Dwight accepted. Later, he became actively involved in the Plymouth Congregational Church in Chicago. As a businessman, he began renting the church pews and filling them up with men and women whom he had invited to church.
By the time Moody was 30, he decided to sell his business and devote all his time to Christian work. He traveled to Dublin, Ireland, where on a bench in a public park, he had a meeting with a man named Henry Varley; (PS: In our extensive traveling in Ireland, Anna Marie and I actually located that same park and visited it).
During Moody’s and Varley’s conversation, Mr. Henry Varley said to Dwight Moody:
“The world has yet to see what God will do with, and for, and through, and in, and by, one man who is Fully Consecrated to Him!”
Moody’s life would never be the same again! As he reflected on Henry Varley’s words, the simple but profound light broke in upon his mind and warmed his heart:
He said, “a man”. He did not say, a great man, or a learned man, nor a smart man, but simply, a man. I am a man, and it lies within the man himself whether he will or will not make that entire and full consecration: “I Will Try My Utmost to Be That Man!”
Dwight Moody went from there to become one of the greatest influences for goodness and righteousness for all time. It is said that people would stand in the street all day, in he rain, just to get in to hear D. L. Moody speak. He addressed as many as 30,000 people at one time in Edinburgh and as many as 40,000 in Glasgow – and that was in the days before there were fancy video and audio projection systems.
It is estimated that no less than 100 million people heard the simple message of the possibilities of goodness and righteousness from the lips of Dwight L. Moody. His impact changed his culture.
Human significance does not necessarily lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness.
When righteousness pours out of your heart, goodness spreads out into the whole world.
WHAT'S THAT IN YOUR HAND?
It’s not what you would do with the millions if riches should be your lot, but what you are doing at present with the dollar and quarter you’ve got!
Maybe there is something in the economic scheme of things that has been overlooked. I am beginning to understand that it’s not so much what you have but what you do with it that makes all the difference in the world. That is true whether you live in Africa, India, Haiti, or the US. That concept is the great equalizing force of culture and economics. How we respond to the concept will determine the quality and character of our lives here as well as hereafter.
Revisit with me for a moment as I paraphrase Exodus 4 and an episode in the life of Moses when God assured him:
I know the king of Egypt isn’t interested in letting you go . . . except under heavy pressure. So, I’ll apply the pressure. If necessary, I’ll destroy Egypt with my miracles.
Then the king will beg you to go! In fact, Moses, when you leave the country, you will be loaded down with gifts; jewels, silver, gold, and you will clothe your sons and daughters with the best of Egypt!
Lord, this is too much! Nobody is going to believe me. I can’t communicate this to my people. Remember, I have a terrible speech impediment!
Who makes mouths, Moses? Just do as I tell you, and I will help you.
But, Lord, I don’t have any resources.
What do you have in your hand, Moses?
Just a shepherd’s rod.
Throw it down on the ground, Moses!
You mean my shepherd’s rod?
Yes, Moses.
But it’s the only thing I have! I make my living with it!
Throw it down!
Well, all right, Lord, here goes. Oh, Lord, let me out of here! My rod has become a hissing snake!
Pick up the snake, Moses, carefully now, by the tail. That’s right!
But, being God, you ought to know, you don’t pick up a snake by the tail. You pick it up behind the eyes!
Like I said, pick it up by the tail!
Look! It’s become a rod again, right here in my very own hands!
That’s right, Moses. The only thing I ever wanted from you was what you have, because with that dedicated rod you will do some incredible miracles before Pharaoh.
You will part the waters of the Red Sea, you will strike the rock and water will come gushing out. But you must be willing to let go of what you have!
In recalling that little episode, I am reminded of an amazing fact:
God never demands more from you than what you have.
He will never ask you to give something that is out of your jurisdiction to give. Moses had a rod. God only asked for the rod. He didn’t ask Moses to surrender someone else’s rod, only the one over which he had jurisdiction.
And it is equally true that even though God only requests of you things that are yours to give, you can count on the fact that he also expects you to give back to him at his request what you do have.
It is not so much what you have but what you do with it that makes
all the difference in the world