Once there was a young man who was not very wise with his money. He actually had some because of his paper route, but he consistently squandered it, and was usually bone dry for some days before his next payday.
His mother noticed this almost right away, but let it run for a few months. She then talked to her husband about it—she thought it was a bad sign and her husband agreed. Uncorrected, too much month at the end of the money would be a pattern for him for a long time to come.
The boy’s parents began praying about it, and within a few days, the boy’s mother found herself in a conversation with him about it—and he was the one who brought it up.
“Mom,” he said, “last year I didn’t have a paper route, I am working a lot harder than before, I get paid every two weeks, and so I ought to have piles of money. But I don’t.”
She nodded sympathetically. “We had that problem too,” she said. “When you and your sister were little.”
“What did you do about it?”
“Before I tell you, let me warn you about something. You know how Jesus often says things upside down? The first last, the greatest least, and that kind of thing?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Well, He talks that way about money too. And Jesus talks a lot about money.”
“All right. I’m ready. I think.”
“You don’t have enough money because you have too much. And if you gave away money, you would have more than enough.”
“You mean tithing . . .”
“It begins with tithing. Tithing is God’s training wheels for us, to teach us how the world works. Money is seed, and seed always belongs in the ground.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Think of it this way. All the money you keep or spend here should be listed as your temporary assets. Money you give makes up your permanent assets.
“You mean that I can’t take it with me?”
“No, almost the opposite of that. You can’t take it with you, that part is true. But Jesus teaches that you can send it on ahead of you. And you do that by disciplined giving.”