A small group of teenagers turned a paperclip into a car. True story. Can you guess how they accomplished this incredible feat?
It’s a popular game in church youth groups called “Bigger or Better”. The youth group is divided into teams. The teams are commissioned to go out and find a way to use that paperclip to bring back something bigger or better. They’re given a specific time frame, and the team with the biggest or best item at the end is the winner.
Most teams accomplish this through a trading process with willing and generous community members. It might look something like this:
- Paperclip <-> Can of soup
- Can of soup <-> Old sweater
- Old sweater <-> Broken microwave
- Broken microwave <-> Large TV
- Large TV <-> Used car
It’s great fun. The year a team came back with a car was, by far, the most impressive one in my experience.
Open your Bible and read Luke 16.
“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones (Luke 16:10a, NLT)…”
Do you feel “less than” this Christmas season? Do you feel like you don’t have enough time or money to do or buy the things you think you should?
My encouragement to you is to be faithful with the little you do have.
We all have 24 hours a day. Some of us have more freedom and flexibility than others in how we use our time. The question is, “How can I be a faithful steward of the time I’ve been given?”
Whether your Christmas budget is big or small, you can be a faithful steward of the money you have. Like the youth in the “Bigger or Better” game, the amount you have is not a limitation in God’s economy. Instead of looking at what’s lacking, ask God to show you how to be faithful with what He’s provided.
This is easier said than done! Especially this time of year, it’s so easy for us to get distracted in the trap of comparison. We look around at what others are doing and we want to measure up. Or we see things we want but can’t have.
In verse 13, Jesus gives us a tip for how to be a faithful steward.
“No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and money.”
A faithful steward is a single-minded steward.
This Christmas season, let’s decide how we will spend our time, talents, and treasure by keeping our focus on one thing: Jesus Christ – the reason for the season!
