What it means to give your anything: Part 3

In Part 1 I wrote about the experiences that inspired me to be willing to give God my everything. In Part 2 I wrote about recognizing that everything we have we owe to God and should use for his glory. And this all started with Jennie Allen's book "Anything," which inspired me to start this blog. Today's post will be short, but hopefully sweet.

Recently, I was contemplating what it means to give God your anything when I came across John 15:5.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

How perfectly does this verse describe the exact thing we've been talking about this week? It's the perfect summary and pretty much speaks for itself. God is the vine. Everything we have comes from him. If we are to give God our "anything," we must recognize this fact and abide in Christ. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit "remaining" in us, directing us, prodding us, and leading us to the truth. Through his guidance and using the gifts God has given us, we "bear much fruit," that is, as we represent Christ, our actions have amazing results, even if we don't always get the chance to see those results become realities. Apart from God, we are nothing, we can do nothing. But abiding in God, offering up our "anything," we truly live and we accomplish much.

What it means to give your anything: Part 2

The other day I wrote about my desire to do something big for God, about my experiences that have given me such desires, and about my lack of resources and talents to do such things (Read the post here.). I concluded that God has used those other people I've witnessed - he has used the resources he has given them, and he will use me. After all, God has a good and perfect plan for each of us. I do not currently know what his call is for me in my life, but I'm ready and waiting. And, as I wrote in my introductory post for this blog, for now, I consider this blog a portion of my "anything."

What does it mean to give your anything? Or, as in my case, to just be ready to give your anything for Christ? I'm currently reading Bob Hostetler's "Quit Going to Church." In it, Hostetler advocates a life in which we stop going to church and start being the church. In his chapter on tithing, Hostetler makes a wonderful point that applies well to our conversation on "anything."

Hostetler points to the poor widow who put two coins - all she had - in the offering box. Jesus said that the widow's gift was more than that of all others because she gave all she had. According to Hostetler, the tithe established in the Old Testament was very much so about recognizing that everything we have belongs to God, not just about giving money and property as a routine habit.

Hostetler writes, "The way of Jesus is not the way of the ten percent. It is the way of the one hundred percent."

We must recognize that what we have, however little it may be, is a gift from God to be used for his glory. We must be ready to give one hundred percent of ourselves. As Jennie Allen suggests in her book "Anything," we must tell God we are willing and wait for his call, listen for his voice, and then be willing to act on how he guides us, no matter how much it stretches us.

What it means to give your anything: Part 1

A family friend I know has a rich relative. His heart and soul belong to Christ, and he uses his money for that cause. I remember becoming incredibly jealous when I saw how he used the money to buy a huge mansion that he uses just for the community, specifically as a place for outreach to orphaned children.

More recently, I traveled to a third world country for a school project. While there, I held to my typical shy self (something I wish I could redo), but I also witnessed amazing people doing amazing things and a nation with joy in its heart despite its troubles. And I thought to myself, if only I were good with languages. Then I'd learn Spanish and return to this country as a volunteer at one of these great Christian centers.

At this point in my life, I don't have the resources or talents for these things. It hurts me deeply because I so badly want to become a part of something - I want to have the resources and talents so that I can volunteer for a month in a third world country or so that I can build a place for orphans to find love. But as much as God uses the witnessing of these things in my life, God doesn't seem to be calling to them. I'm at a loss for what God wants from me. I only know that, as I said in my introductory post for this blog, I am willing to give it.