What Man Has Wrought

Some years ago, in my younger days, I saw a movie with a subplot about some people that worshipped a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. During the course of the movie, the hero jumps on the motorcycle, starts it, and rides away. These people grab their guns and start to shoot at him, but their leader stops them with the words, “No! You might hit the Lord!” Some of my friends found that line to be absolutely offensive, but I personally thought that line was hilarious; it strikes me as funny that anyone would worship something that they could destroy. As far as that goes, why would you consider something man-made as being worthy of that kind of reverence?

Yet it has been known to happen. In Isaiah 44 there is a discourse on how silly it is for a man to cut down a tree, then carve an image from the wood, burn the rest of the wood to heat his home, or to bake bread, and revere that idol as though it had power over man, instead of the other way around. It even talks about the fact that this man cannot even conceive of the idea that he has a lie in his right hand.

Most of us are far too sophisticated to fall for such a thing, and yet, we value our cars, our homes, cell phones, gadgets, etc. Maybe worship is the wrong word, although many of us would be lost without our things. They are just things, though. In the book, Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank Gilbreath, Jr. he mentioned that, growing up, his father used to hold occasional fire drills, but the way his father ran the drill, it wasn’t enough to get out of the house safely in the prescribed amount of time; each family member also had to bring something. It wasn’t supposed to be something valuable, but something that would make it easier to pass the time waiting for the insurance company to replace the valuable things. The author said that his mother kept a book under her side of the bed just for the fire drills. His father, though, wanted every one in the family to understand that things are just things, and even the most valuable things can be replaced. Granted, an antique dining room set would not be replaced by one with the same dollar value, but you can get a new dining room set, that you might be more inclined to actually use (so it might have more actual value).

Luke 16:11 says, “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” I think what Jesus was doing, was admonishing us to understand the true value of things. We sometimes get caught up the idea that something is more valuable because it is old, or because it is made of rare materials, but a tool is only as valuable as what it can be used for. A Rolls Royce may have a six-figure price tag, but a Pinto will get you from point A to point B just as well. As far as that goes, if you have the proper license, a Harley Davidson would, too. The important thing is to keep things in perspective. When you get right down to basics, the real value of an object depends on what that object can be used for.

The Answer Is in Your Hands

There is an story about a wise old man in a village that always seemed to have the right answer to every situation, and to every question. One day, a young man decided to challenge the old man, and prove that the wise man was not so wise. He held a songbird behind his back, and asked the old man to say whether the bird was alive or dead. The plan was, that if the old man answered dead, then he could produce the live bird, and prove the old man wrong; but if the old man answered alive, then he could wring the bird's neck, and produce a dead bird, again proving the old man wrong. The old man looked the young man in the eye, and said, "The answer is in your hands."
Many times we fret about what we don't have, and don't pay nearly enough attention to what we do have. In 2 Kings 4, there is a story about a widow woman, the survivor of a man that was faithful, who has two sons, and a great deal of debt. She asks Elijah to help her, and he asks her what she has. She tells him that all she has is a pot of oil. He tells her to go and borrow vessels from her neighbors, as many as she can get, and pour the oil into the vessels. She filled all of these vessels, and still had oil in her pot. She sold the oil, paid the debt, and then returned the borrowed vessels. God has a way of making the things that we have stretch to meet the need.
In 1 Kings 17, there is a similar story with Elijah the prophet and a widow woman who had a little bit of meal in the bottom of barrel and a small portion of oil in a cruse. Because she was faithful, and prepared food for the man of God before feeding her son or herself, God blessed the barrel and the cruse, and they didn't give out until after the draught ended.
Let me add a cautionary note. I know that there are "ministries" out there that will implore you to trust God, and give to their cause more than you can really afford. I would implore you to trust God, and follow His leading. If He leads you to overextend yourself to support a ministry that you believe in, that's one thing; if a ministry pressures you to overextend yourself to support them, that's a very different thing. If you follow God, you can't go wrong, but there are an awful lot of people that claim to represent God, and are trusting that they will never have to give an account for what they have asked of you. Not only are they putting their trust in the wrong things, they are asking you to, as well. If the blind lead the blind, they shall both fall into the ditch, but you don't have to be blind. The book of James says that if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. If it comes down to a choice between paying your light bill or giving to a ministry, well, if it's of God, then God will find a way to pay your light bill, but if it's not of God, then you're going to be sitting in the dark, wondering how God could let this happen to you (but if you had sought God about it, He would have warned you not to give that money to those people). Don't sign your light bill money over to some preacher unless you know with absolute certainty that it's what God wants you to do (It’s okay to fleece the Lord, Gideon did it).
God can do a lot with a little, and sometimes we feel that we just don't have enough. If we let God have His way, though, a little can be plenty. Just as Jesus said that if you have faith as a mustard seed, you can move mountains, so can you do a great deal with just a little time, or a little effort, or a little bit of money. Remember the widow with the two mites? It didn’t seem like much to the disciples, but God saw how much it was to her—it was all she had. Pray for God's direction, and the leading of His Holy Ghost, and He can make a lot out of whatever little you have, too, provided that you are willing to use it for His glory.