“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.” (Luke 12:33)

Jesus isn’t calling us to a life of poverty. He’s giving us practical tips on how to gather the only treasure that lasts, which is people. There is nothing wrong with owning a nice house and car. But if all you have to show for your life is a bunch of moth-eaten, rusty toys, then you have not spent wisely. You’ve made inferior investments and settled for an empty life when you could have a life full of everlasting friends.

It’s not that God loves the poor more than the rich, it’s that the poor are the low-hanging fruit. Unlike the rich, they haven’t been numbed by the false and fleeting comforts of this world. Aware of their needs, they are ready to meet the One who promises to supply all of our needs in Christ Jesus. The table of the Lord’s abundance has been laid for all, but only the hungry are grateful. Life is a gift that is easily wasted. We can waste it running after inferior rewards that rust, or we can do what Jesus did and invest ourselves in the only reward that lasts: Giving.

The only way to keep our abundance is to give it away. I know it’s scary. God will return multiplied many times over whatever we gave to Him.