rich.

i woke up this morning, put some toast in, got the coffee brewing, sat on my bed and plugged in a nooma video.
when life is going awry, i often plug them in. they smarten me up.
so i scrolled through and saw one called ‘rich’. and since i’m curently weeping over my empty wallet, the title seemed pretty appropriate.

and it was. i got a good kick in the head.
around the five-minute mark, rob bell starts saying,

all that we have is a gift.
food. it’s a gift. (i look down at my peanut butter toast.)
clothes? gift. (my new american apparel hoodie is hanging off the end of my bed.)
roof? gift. (my beds directly beneath the start of the attic roof slant.)
that breath you just took. it’s a gift. (i inhaled and thought about all the people that won’t ever get to do that again.)

shit, i really do have so much.
i was humbled. and i needed to be. 

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

1 timothy 6:17

it doesn’t take a lot of fact spewing about the wealth vs. poverty numbers to see that i am blessed. we are all blessed.
instead of internalizing that, i’m asked to give. i have a divine responsibility to give. 

how God instructed us to live our lives, in acts of service and generosity, still stands regardless of what our bank accounts look like. and trust me,  mine is bleaker than bleak. but it’s not conditional instruction. it’s a flat-out, “this is how you are to be”

at the end of the video bell leans into the screen and says,

“what can you do to be more generous? what is the next step for you?
you have been BLESSED.
what can you give? who are you going to bless?

may you come to see that you’re RICH. and your possessions are luxuries that most of the people in the world don’t have.
may you do what Jesus says, may you step in to your divine responsibility to give. and when you do, may you take hold of the life that is truly life.” 

i need to re-read this. often 
because the minute i forget how blessed i am is the same minute i forget who gave it all to me.  

maybe this will challenge you as much as it challenged me. 
happy sunday!

xo.