* * * TIME * * *
– – – TALENT – – –
= = = TREASURE = = =
A Stewardship Moment
“Give in Proportion to Your Blessings”
by Jim Rudd
Deuteronomy states that “Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.” May each of us apply this statement during St. Mark’s Stewardship Campaign regarding our gifts of time, talent and treasure.
Time is the first gift that we often take for granted. How often have we heard the statement (including from our own lips) “I would exercise if I only had the time”? The truth of the matter is God has granted us sufficient time to exercise. We simply do not give “exercise” high enough priority to spend our time doing so. Perhaps we give “watching TV” higher priority. Are we giving sufficient priority to taking the time to help and serve others, particularly those less fortunate than ourselves? Our choir director is an excellent example of someone who donates an enormous amount of her time enriching St. Mark’s worship services with music. How can you donate your time? Maybe teach a child to read? Perhaps visit the sick? During this stewardship campaign, consider pledging a proportional amount of your gift of time to helping and serving others.
Talent is the second gift that we often take for granted. As one of our parishioners stated in his stewardship message last year, it is common for us to ask, “What can I do?” The implication is that we have no talents. In truth, each of us has been blessed with an abundance of talent. Those talents may be very specialized such as knowledge of science which one of our parishioners shared with the participants of our adult education classes on “Science and Religion. ” Talents may also be used to perform more common tasks such as cooking meals for those in need or knitting prayer shawls. God has blessed each of us with a multitude of talents with varying degrees of complexities. During this stewardship campaign, identify your talents, however specialized or common, and consider sharing a proportional amount of them with God’s people.
Treasure is the third gift that we often take for granted. We have a tendency to compare ourselves with more affluent people and conclude that we have little treasure. In reality, we have great treasures compared to many less fortunate than ourselves. God expects us to return a proportion of our treasures to do His good works. The biblical standard for the giving of our treasure is the tithe. Even if we are unable to tithe at this time, let us continuously strive toward the tithe as our goal. Please consider pledging a proportional amount of your gift of treasure during this stewardship campaign. Again, Deuteronomy states that “Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.” Please consider the abundant gifts of time, talent and treasure with which you have been blessed. Are you willing to pledge those gifts in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you?
