So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. Luke 14:33
In the New Testament, scriptures discussing money do not begin with budgeting, inheritances, or tithing, they begin with the beauty and value of Yeshua Messiah. Is He really worth everything you own? Is He really worth your money? Your land? Your reputation? Your legacy? Your career? Your inheritance? Yeshua does not ask you to come follow Him without counting the cost. He says the Kingdom of Heaven is going to cost you everything. While there will be many saved in the last moments of their life like the thief on the cross, true discipleship costs. In the shortest two parables in scripture:
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. Matthew 13
THE HEART OF THE COMMANDMENTS
We know that in every way, Jesus taught the fullest, most complete, perfect understanding of the laws of God. And the beautiful thing about it is that He does not start off with layering more requirements on us. Instead, He starts telling us what it means to really follow the law of God from our very hearts. At first, it seems like an abolishment of the old law, then you realize the core of all Jesus is saying is love, both for neighbor (including spouse & children) and Yahweh, Himself. This does not negate the first law but takes it deeper into the heart: forgive so that you do not demand vengeance; do not even look lustfully so you avoid even the risk of adultery; do not even hate a brother so that you will not become bitter and commit murder. Jesus brings in the guardrails inward, from guarding us from going over the edge with our dangerous behavior to guarding our hearts so we do not even get close to the edge–and so encouraging a worshipful life, full of love, and enjoyment of intimacy with God.
Take the place where Jesus teaches to forgive based on an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (Matthew 5:38ff, referencing Deuteronomy 19:21 and Leviticus 24:19-22). These laws in Torah lay out the rights to defense and vengeance in the Levitical codes. That the offender will be punished and the victim will be avenged. But Jesus says, the greatest fulfillment of this law is to forgive and not repay evil for evil. This is radical mercy and trust that God will judge and take vengeance. Through Yeshua, and by His Spirit, we can extend the forgiveness of the cross to those who hurt us. The sermon on the mount taught a law that cuts to the heart and flows from a place of radical love and worship. And from this heart posture, Jesus taught, “if you love me you will obey my commands.”
Now here is something I find interesting about many Christians. We might embrace the teachings that say to forgive, to not hate, to not lust, etc. We might try to keep them even if they prove nearly impossible. We might try very hard to do those commands. But a funny thing happens when we look at Jesus’ commands about money. People start looking at the Proverbs and the Old Testament to “balance” what Jesus said about money. Why is this?
It’s because what Jesus said about money is so counter-cultural for western culture. What would your unbelieving neighbor say to the idea of giving everything you own to become a disciple of Yeshua? You would think someone was crazy to not store up at least something, to keep something for a rainy day, right? But if Jesus said not to worry about the future needs, even about food and clothing–not to store money, but to release it for Kingdom work, then it is not only the final word on the matter of money, but the deepest fulfillment of ALL money advice that came before. I’ll say it again. Jesus’ teaching about money is meant to be the perfect completion and fulfillment of all the law, the prophets, and the wisdom literature. His word is the final word on it.
Look how clearly He said it:
Do not store up for yourselves treasure houses on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasure houses in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6
TREASURES IN HEAVEN
I am suggesting that we give the same effort in obeying Jesus commandments about money with the same attention and heart posture as “do not look lustfully” and “forgive 70×7.” How can we understand His commandments about wealth as not a negation of the old laws, but a complete fulfillment? In this light, even the Proverbs about money must be read in context of Jesus’ commands, not the other way around, and that we should understand that what we read in wisdom literature is only “true wisdom” if it aligns with what Jesus taught. Jesus moves the discussion about money from earthly to the Kingdom yet to come.
“The blessing of the LORD brings wealth.” (Proverbs 10:22) now means that we are investing that wealth into the Kingdom–sending people to share the gospel, helping the poor, orphan, widow. This builds up an inheritance in the Kingdom of God for us that does not fade away.
“A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.” Proverbs 13:22, now means that our inheritance we pass to our children is the investment we have made in giving everything away.
So, how do we store up treasures in heaven? One way that Jesus consistently mentions is by giving our money away freely to bless others.
Let me show you what I mean.
Matthew 6:19-21
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 19:8-9
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
Mark 19:21-27
Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard[b] to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” 26 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. 27 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
And here is the kicker.
Luke 14:25-33
A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. 28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ 31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
Is He saying that you have to divest yourself of literally everything you own? Verse 33 seems to say that. But is Jesus preaching a vow of poverty? No. In fact He says,
“…there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Mark 10
WAIT. DID HE JUST SAY “YOU MUST GIVE UP EVERYTHING?”
Yep. I don’t make up things like that. Not only that, but Jesus was known to call people away from careers, family, land, and home to follow Him. This is not a “legalistic” or over-literal reading of one passage. This is a theme throughout the New Testament. It is only legalistic if you obey without love and begin judging others, which Jesus says not to do. What I am talking about is a willing giving up of everything because you truly love Jesus more than literally everything and you truly perceive the value of the Kingdom enough to trade in all your other things for it.
Jesus is talking about going through a gateway, a narrow road, of leaving everything, in order to enter a Kingdom economy where you will not lack the necessities, and even are promised to become wealthier than when you left. But it is not the same kind of wealth. I am not talking about financial wealth, I am talking about Kingdom wealth, in terms of spiritual family, spiritual territory, and real persecutions, with the ultimate reward being a very full and wealthy life in the age to come. Jesus is very clear that His Kingdom is not of this world; that the servants will be great and the greatest will be last. Entrance to that Kingdom is costly. Literally costly. We are not talking about some kind of figurative conversion, we are talking about a conversion that radically affects our wallets. Just ask those who followed Jesus, who gave up jobs, family, houses, land, and riches. This was not just a first century phenomenon. As we just read in Luke 14:33, Jesus invites anyone who wants to become a disciple to do so by giving up everything we own. In fact, He actually says, “you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.”
This should give us some pause. What does this mean? Well, what if it means exactly what it seems to mean? That is, that we should be giving everything now, so we can serve now, working now while we can, so that we can accomplish what God has prepared in advance for us to do. That is, with the guidance and partnership with the Father, do what He is doing–build His Kingdom, His church, His temple of living stones, to bring people to an encounter with Jesus by the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit.
You might say, well I never felt God call me to do that. I might ask you if that is your response to other commands of Jesus in scripture? Do you wait until you have a personal revelation apart from scripture to obey the commands of Jesus or is the Bible meant to be that instruction for us to align to? Of course it is. We teach our children that the Bible is the Word of God meant to be obeyed. What we have already been commanded to do in the gospels requires no further commandment…only hearing, accepting and obeying!
Remember, this is not to be done under some legalistic compulsion, but the compulsion of LOVE, wherein we WILL to pour our lives, our land, our possessions, and our money because the love of Christ compels us, not because we are winning His favor or buying His mercy. After all, love cannot be bought or sold. Entering the Kingdom through giving up everything we own is a response to an invitation to pour out everything you put your joy, trust, and hope in besides Christ, and pour that into the lives of others…Side effect being that the poor will be helped and your heart will be free from idolatry. After all, you cannot love both God and money. (Matthew 6:24) Jesus sets up the unloading of land and finances as a gateway to kingdom living, because that radical giving is the radical worship that entitles you, if you continue in it, to receive radical, miraculous provision as you work the fields before the angels reap the harvest of the earth, and the time of decision is over (Matthew 13:39, Revelation 14:14-20).
MOTIVATION FOR RADICAL DOWNSIZING AND RADICAL GIVING
Our ability to be perfect (complete or full) in keeping the commands of Christ is simply an overflow or side effect of a real love for God. It is a heart change, one which He is capable of accomplishing in us by the Holy Spirit when we decide to surrender to Him fully as King. It cannot be overstated that one should never enter in to a radical downsizing unless it is 100% compelled by love for God overflowing from the love He has given you by the Holy Spirit. It will not be easy, and I would humbly suggest that you need to assess your heart and those going with you to know if you’re strong enough spiritually to endure the hardships of persecution and discomfort that will inevitably come if you enter into discipleship with Christ.
Look at the women who gave money to Jesus’ ministry:
After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. Luke 8
Were they compelled by a 10% tithe rule? Did they ask Jesus for a ministry plan to see if it was a good, long term investment? Were they fitting it into the budget for the month? No. They gave because they loved Him. They loved Him because they had been HEALED! It was an outpouring that naturally flowed from their thankfulness to a desire to bless the work of God in the world. Out of their wealth the women gave radically. Because Jesus trusted His Father to provide through people, Jesus accepted radically and He was supported for ministry. He received as people felt led to give. And this allowed Him to give radically of training, administering healing, teaching, even unto death.
THE GOAL OF HIS ASKING US TO GIVE RADICALLY IS INTIMACY WITH HIM
You might think that Jesus was asking the rich to give radically to the poor (including Himself) and for the poor to be radical receivers. But no! Jesus also wants radical generosity from the poor and disenfranchised of the world as well. To the rich and the poor ALIKE the gospel speaks of both radical generosity and radical trust. It is the same gospel to both. God does not call us to wealth. He calls us to Himself. He does not call us to poverty, He calls us to Himself. That means that as we may enter seasons of wealth or poverty, then in each season we must respond with a “yes” to both radical generosity and radical trust out of a radical love based on what God has done for us. This is meant to be normal, “default” setting as followers of Jesus.
Our completely voluntary choice to become a disciple, requires us to give EVERYTHING. Look at the widow who gave her last coins (Mark 12:41–44):
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Two important things to note here. First, the rich were giving large amounts and Jesus was unimpressed. Second, The poor widow gave EVERYTHING and Jesus was impressed.
The rich were giving large amounts and Jesus was unimpressed. The poor widow gave EVERYTHING and Jesus was impressed.
This means how much money you have to give is really only relevant in the sense that it makes it harder to give everything. Out of her poverty the widow gave everything from a place of love (worship). This demonstrated radical trust. Jesus saw this and was impressed with her level of trust. She was not giving from a place of legalism but a place of faith. She knew God would take care of her. The narrow gate is simply putting childlike trusting in Messiah, like the thief on the cross, but the road narrows further requirement of true discipleship means literally giving everything up to follow Him.
You might think that taking care of the poor is the end goal of the kingdom, that poor, orphan, sick and imprisoned are provided for. He does care about them, but there is something more precious to Jesus than the outcome of our generosity, and that is, that He cares about us and the state of our hearts, to keep us unsoiled by the world (James 1:27). He wants to prepare us in holiness (setting us apart) for righteousness (right living) out of His love for us because it is so good! He wants to heal us from our fear, our idolatry, our anxiety about provision. He wants us to enter the Kingdom now and set us apart for worship (bridal love) and communion (intimacy of sharing life together) with Him.
Look at how Mary gave out of her own poverty radically in worship in breaking the alabaster jar of high priced nard oil, wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair (Mark 14). Jesus radically received an expensive anointing to undergo death for the atonement of the sins of humanity. When His disciples chided her for wasting such a resource that could have been used more practically to help the poor, Jesus shut them down. He valued her worship. Her pouring out was the point. It wasn’t that what she bought had to be legalistically allocated to feed the poor. It was the pouring out that was the worship. And for us, the pouring out of everything we have not only covers the needs of the body as we pour out everything we have; it not only invites the rest of the body into participation and investment in the harvest by supporting global workers; but MOST IMPORTANTLY leads to a greater relationship with Jesus than we’ve ever known. Giving up everything leads us to our own greatest need, connection with Christ and His body. He sees our pouring out and He is impressed! In your giving up everything, He is allured by you, He is honored by you. He is excited by your faith. He is drawn to you even more by your obedience. We know what pleases His heart and what leads Him to make His home in our hearts. Jesus said “If anyone loves me, he will keep my commands, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23
Downsizing radically, even into a temporary poverty, for those who love Jesus, is an act of worship, trust, and thankfulness. I am not talking about tithe. Tithe was established to provide for the Levites in the temple period so they would be provided for as they served God in the temple built by human hands. Fulfilling and perfecting the concept of “tithe” in the temple of living stones is radical generosity: an open swirl of money going wherever it is needed to partner with the miraculous provision of the Father for harvest workers to expand the kingdom through preaching and church planting and helping the needy. This river of provision is loosed by the radical generosity of grateful and worshipful disciples of Jesus who give up everything, and the finances of the kingdom are administered by a kingdom of priests who will to serve God, not serve themselves or their own comfort.
Upon hearing me preach this, many have said to me, “Money is not the point. The thing is loving Jesus more than money.”
Well, yes, I would agree. The only thing is, it’s very hard to know if you really do love Jesus more than money unless you begin to give everything away. The truth is, we are way more attached to our things, our homes, our comforts than we even know. Hiding in our ignoring of this command or our arguments against it is a deeply rooted self-deceit that we know nothing about until we really put our money where our faith is and take the advice of Jesus to give all we have away.
Is giving everything you own a requirement to become a true disciple of Jesus?
Jesus said,
So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. Luke 14:33
When is the last time you really wrestled with that? Maybe money is not the point for you, and that is between you and the Lord. But the truth is, Jesus not only told at least two people that money was their problem, saying giving everything away was what a rich, well-off person should do if he wanted to be complete in His devotion for God. He also spoke a warning to an entire body of believers prophetically in Revelation 3:17-20 .
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Not only do we have this warning to the rich church who didn’t realize their state of danger, but Jesus also offers counsel to those who will listen. Buy gold, refined in fire. This means let your wealth be burned up on the altar of God. Offer it all and buy the kingdom. Put on white garments of holy living, not in self-righteousness, but in Holy Spirit empowered righteousness that overcomes the enemy by the blood of Yeshua and the word of your testimony. Put salve on your eyes so you can see that we are not invited to comfort but to work while there is still time! So in the name of Yeshua, we must receive the rebuke and healing ministry of the lamb– open your eyes and see, Bride and Body of Messiah. This is truth:
Jesus spoke, very generally, that giving away everything was the gateway into becoming a disciple.
My question to you is this. Have you ever truly wrestled with this statement?
You cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
Just allow yourself to believe what Jesus said for a moment; that is was true…that discipleship had an actual pricetag. Would you be inclined to become a disciple? Now be healed from the delusion of the world around you and open your eyes. It is true. And with God, it is possible. You really could give up everything you own and follow Him to the harvest fields that are ripe for harvest. What could be on the other side of that for you? Well, it’s miraculous provision. It’s joy! It’s a cross. It’s persecution. It’s wonder. It’s worship in Spirit and in Truth.
Others may say, “Well, what if we all did that, who would support you?” I would challenge you that if you really want to, come, and let’s leave it up to the Lord to support all who are willing to give up everything, because He is able. He told us to pray that the Lord would send workers into the harvest (Matthew 9:38). I challenge you to start with simply praying that God sends workers willing to give up everything. Maybe those workers will turn out to be you and your family. It is not I who call, but the Lord. And I believe many believers have once heard the call to disciple the nations, or even your own nation, but have not started for one reason or another. Maybe you talked yourself out of it on the practicalities or your abilities. Maybe the enemy accused you out of obeying. Regardless the reason, let me repeat His invitation again to your heart. Come and be His disciple, give up everything you own and let’s follow Him! There is work to do, and He has a placement prepared for everyone willing to give up everything they own.
And for those who say, “I can make disciples at home.” Yes, of course they can, and they should, but let’s be honest, most of the time, staying “home” tempts us to not give up everything we own, and to fill our lives with activities and tasks that are not purposed to making disciples. And staying home is, for many, disobedient because they have heard the call to go out…”Who will go? Who shall I send?,” and they said “Send me!” and now they have put their hand to the plow but turned back. I can speak from experience and warn you that this kind of disobedience makes us complacent and apathetic toward our role in the harvest fields. I’m not being judgmental, I’m just saying that if you were ever called to work in the fields and you are not doing that, you can! And you will a huge sense of relief when you do it! You absolutely can change directions and go out. I know because we did. And HE was faithful.
I am also speaking to people who believe their role is to mobilize or train others to go out. I encourage you to ask, are they actually going out? Because if not, it may mean that you have worked yourself into thinking that your role is to multiply or train people to go instead of going yourself and I would challenge you that Jesus did not just send, He went out with them. He modeled the lifestyle he was requiring from others. So a “disciple-maker” who has not given up everything cannot require it from others. But one who has given up everything can invite others into it with them. How can we make disciples if we have not fulfilled this basic requirement Jesus puts before us to become disciples ourselves? You might make converts, but you will not make disciples until you yourself have given up everything you own. And you can! With God, it is possible.
COMFORT FOR THE JOURNEY
Finally, I want to say that I am not qualified to judge anyone in this matter. It is not our job to judge, only God’s. I am qualified, however, to encourage you because we have done this as a family, and it IS our position to remind one another as brothers and sisters to obey Yeshua.
I can encourage you to not just wrestle, but to overcome in this! To obey and run to the harvest fields that are ripe for harvest.
In the interest of complete honesty, I want to tell you that we ended up saving a few special things, especially for the children. They each got to pack a small container full of special, sentimental things to keep like stuffed animals and books. We kept a few photo books, my wedding dress and album, and some special Christmas tree ornaments because we buy an ornament every new place we go so our tree becomes a testimony of our journey we get to tell our children. But we did leave behind everything we felt God say was hindering us. We wrestled. I felt the Lord tell me to get rid of my career, my academic books, and my diploma, which nearly killed me (this is an example of how he may lead some people to especially give away certain things). I gave sold or gave away most our our stockpile of goods to sell from Beloved. We sold our house. We tried to give away most of the money we made before we left, so we would not be tempted to rely on it. I am sure we did not do this particularly well, and I was pretty much a wreck the whole time, but I sensed Jesus saying it didn’t really matter how we did it, but that we actually did it.
We left the country with a little bit of our own money left, which we have given away or used in the field as God slowly but surely builds our support team. We tried to do the best to just leave with clothes, but carried a heavy, full load of luggage also containing homeschool supplies for the year, technology that we needed, craft materials for the girls, a set of good kitchen knives, some camping gear, my son’s skateboard, and a few books each. We left the good knives, the camping gear, the markers and crayons, my son’s skateboard, and the knives halfway through our trip, feeling led to let those go too. Because the thing is, once you let go of everything it’s easier to let go of anything.
Because the thing is, once you let go of everything, it’s easier to let go of anything.
Why am I telling you all this? It’s because it was hard, but it is possible by the grace of God for you to say yes to this. I want you to hear from a real person that this is not radical, it is meant to be normal! I have tasted and seen over here that Jesus was right. It is a good life.
Giving everything away was a necessary gateway for our family to experience the kingdom. And I want to tell you what we have felt has been great freedom! It has been suspenseful at times. It has been a deepening of trust, a revelation of how far into trust we still need to go, especially in having our children with us out here. We have had days where we were hungry, lonely, cold, and uncomfortable, we have been sick and we have been sad. We have also have days of feasting, new friends, warmth, comfort, even luxury. But regardless of circumstances, we are learning contentment. We are learning to rest in and lean on His love for us. We have also been full of thankfulness and joy in the Holy Spirit. We have experienced the power of God. We have seen people give their lives to Yeshua. We have gained perspective of God’s people and the Messianic movement. And we are on fire with passion for the gospel and for seeing the nations worship and enter into the presence of God.
We cannot tell you the road we have traveled is yours too, only you can decide that. But I want to encourage you to obey Yeshua, to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, and as you do, He will give you strength and boldness to say yes to see how clear His requirements are for becoming a disciple. We have learned that not all “believers” are actually disciples. And once people are confronted with the requirements of discipleship, many walk away saddened, like the rich young ruler, or angry enough to persecute those who preach simply what Jesus said on this matter. You will be persecuted if you choose to obey this command of Christ, mostly by religious people. People will work out their own guilt, cowardice, and shame by saying and doing terrible things to you and your children. People you once thought were brothers and sisters in Christ will accuse you of being self-righteous, legalistic, and judgmental, even a bad parent, all because you are obeying this one command. Do not be afraid. Keep going. Our wrestling and yielding on this matter of giving up everything we have (with the exceptions above) has led to a great adventure, true partners and friends in ministry, and more love in my heart for Him. And I would not trade this for any amount of money or stability. He is worth it. HE is so worth it.
Remember what he promises to those who leave everything.
Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyonewho has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:27-29
The deciding moment for us, was when we understood and believed what was at the end of this for us, personally: if we choose to hear, accept, and obey, it is not poverty that is our destiny, but a treasure, both on earth and in heaven. He has better things stored up for you than you can even imagine, but it’s just going to cost you everything.
Below is a link to a BEAUTIFUL reenactment of this parable put out by Angel Studios, Skip the parable of the talents that comes later because I think they got it all wrong. I think the parable of talents is talking about investing your money in the kingdom whether rich or poor. But the whole show is pretty imaginative and fun. Enjoy! Warning…the context of the parable in the movie is to distract one of the characters from a terrible foot surgery so you may want to get exactly to the time stamp before viewing with small children.
