Get-rich scheme

I am not laying down any rules. But by showing how eager others are to help, I am trying to find out how real your own love is. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty. (verses 8, 9)

Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Jesus came with a get-rich scheme. This is how it worked. Even though he had the divine ability to live in luxury and exercise great power and influence, he chose not to. He could have been rich. Instead he chose to live as a poor person, dependent, in the last years of his life, on handouts from others. He did this in order to make other people rich. Those of us who understand his life of service and have accepted his death on the cross as payment for our sins are the richest people in the world. We have a guarantee of victory over death and will inherit eternal life with God.

So it shouldn’t be hard for us to look at our riches, material and spiritual, and think about how we can share them with others. God doesn’t expect us to go without, he simply wants us to share what he has given us. The more we give, the richer we become.

Lord, help me to understand your get-rich scheme and how it enhances my life and contributes to the welfare of all. Amen.

by Richard Hauser, in ‘Refreshment for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2003)

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