Subject: Sell what you have-give alms |
Bible Note: flyman- Good that you read the entire chapter. Now that you have done that read my post again but a bit more carefully. Also consider the wider context of Scripture, as a whole, as your reading. In my post I don't say that the theme of the chapter is charitable giving. I said the word "alms" in the verse you asked about speaks to charitable giving. That was only the first sentence. The rest of the post speaks to the theme (of the verse- not the entire chapter). There is more than one truth, point, and theme in the entire chapter. There is nothing contrary to my statement when I said Jesus is not saying to sell all of your possessions, leaving yourself without means of living and giving it all away. That statement is accurate, and again, must be understood in context of Scripture as a whole. We are to be good stewards of all we are blessed with. Consider a word study of “steward”. Four times in your post you point to "do not worry" as "A" theme. Great! It's not important that you did not get that from my post though I had hoped you would; better that you got it on your own from Scripture. I'm glad I was able to encourage you to do the work... the fruit is always sweeter when you pick it yourself :-) Not worrying about the future is a start but hardly the theme in and of itself. The "why" of not worrying about the future is what's important. Why? Because, we can have faith in God to supply all our needs. As a result we live with thanks giving, blessing as we are blessed. Your response to my post indicates that you may have a tendency to scan rather than read with focus. For example, you wrote "I have read chapter 12 over and over and there is nothing pertaining to charitable giving". Well, what pertains very specifically to charitable giving is the very verse you originally referenced, asking for help regarding its meaning. Luke 12:33-34 (NASB) 33 "Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. 34 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I included verse 34 as it speaks to the focus of my original response. It's about the spiritual condition. Trusting God for all of our needs and blessing others as we are blessed; in other words, trusting without worry and charitable giving. Try reading through passages and then reading a second time a bit more slowly. Where context is considered start first with the most immediate if you’re having trouble; that is, the immediate verses before and those after. The more you learn of God's word the better you will understand individual verses and passages; that is, as they are consistent with and relevant too truth. Hope this helps, Jeff |