The Red Letter Challenge Workbook starts today by saying, “Jesus talked more about money than he talked about love, heaven or hell. He talked about money more than any other topic except the Kingdom of God.”

Full stop. I had to think about it. Yep, he sure did.

The workbook then goes on to say, “I am convinced it’s impossible to be a stingy Christian…if you are truly following Jesus, you are generous.”

Take a few minutes to ponder that. I’ll wait right here, just tell me when you are ready.

I think a road diverged into two paths and one led to dissecting the word ‘generous’ in order to make it mean what we are more comfortable with…and the second road let to the things Jesus actually taught his disciples.

“We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.” [Matthew 10:40-42, MSG]

I am tempted to dissect the word ‘generous’ to fit into what I want it to look like, but my heart is tied much more to wanting to be more and more and more like Jesus.

I had not heard the statement I started with before I read it in the book. If I thought about it, sure, Jesus talked a lot about money, but I focus much more on the Kingdom of God in the gospels. That is my natural inclination. And it isn’t that I am not a generous person. I try to be, but I am a work in progress, and this is another of those things that I need to spend more time with.