What Do You Do for God?

Last week I had the opportunity to speak with a good friend who was visiting from Spain. This man is a true servant of the Lord. While we are all tired of our jobs and complaining about our financial situations, he is traveling to places like Peru and the Phillipines sharing his faith and love just as Jesus asked of us 2000 years ago. He told me the story of a prostitute preaching to give motivation to a drunk homeless man that wanted to die and also of the thousands of people living in the streets of the Phillipines that don’t understand the word “future.” These are things that the majority of us will never even see with our own two eyes in our short lives, but it helps us to realize the situation of the world today and the need that exists.

We all have something special with which we can help others. God has blessed this man with many talents, but this Friday he sang a few of his songs and preached about the famous Feeding of the Multitudes (Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15). He showed us that all of God’s people are blessed and that we all have something special with which we can help others. Perhaps we say that we don’t have enough money to be giving it away, but we spend more money on things that don’t have a meaning. The young man from the famous parable shares his fish and bread, which was all he had and all of the sudden there was enough for everyone. The message is that if we all share a little of what we have, we won’t be left with nothing. In the parable everyone ate until “satisfied” and there was still some left over. If we share a little of what God has given us, we are spreading the blessings. We are blessing our friends and family.

Imagine the poor widow of Mark 12:41-44 that gave her last two cents to the offering, but it was all that she had. That woman gave more than anyone in her offering and she gave it with honor. That is how we should share the blessings that God gives us, whether money, food, or maybe even our time. Another story that my friend has shared with me is one of a young man that he had met at a concert, and the next day he saw him in a hospital taking care of children with disabilities. The teenager didn’t have a job, or money, but what he did have was his time. And he dedicated all of his free time every weekend to helping others. All of us have time, whether five minutes or five hours, but we have time. But why don’t we share our time? We are so busy working that and worrying about important things like the football game or the television program that we don’t give the time to our families. We don’t even give our time with our own children, wives, or husbands. It’s sad, but it’s the truth.

God does everything for you, but what do you do for God? After finishing his speech we were all very moved by the powerful effect of his words. I couldn’t get the question, “God does everything for you, but what do you do for God?,” out of my mind. I have been thinking a lot about that question and it has helped me to see that it is necessary to take the time to help others and share the blessings that God gives us, with humility and love. Jesus taught it to me, and Luis Alfredo Díaz reminded me. Glory to God for men like him.