"Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. "
-Hebrews 13:16 (NRSV)
WHEN I was a young girl, I had a set of white sheets that I adored. I always washed myself clean before sleeping on them. One day, a visitor came to our home and stayed the night. My mother requested that I leave my bed for our visitor and share a bed with my sister.
Our visitor was dirty. No, she could not sleep on my white sheets! I rushed to remove my precious sheets from the bed, stretched the blanket in place, and dashed out. I was relieved; my sheets were safe. The poor woman went to sleep. She didn't even know the sheets were missing.
Morning came. I rushed to my bedroom to spread my sheets back on the bed, but overnight rats had made holes in them. I wished that I had left them on the bed; the woman sleeping there would have protected them from the rats.
As I thought about that experience, I realized that in many ways we refuse to share what God has entrusted to us. By doing so, we hinder God's blessing. And we are left with white sheets full of holes.
It's amazing the little things we are obsessed with and will not sacrifice, even if just for a moment. This includes anything we don't want to give up, whether it's something we're saying or has been said, physical items, hobbies, or even time and how we spend it.
