“you must not listen to the words of (a self proclaimed) prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 13:3

Stopping at the local dollar store, I picked up a bag of bubble gum balls. As a kid, I remember my instant reaction when I’d see a gumball machine. Hundreds of those little colored balls in a big glass container simply called out…”come get me!” I STILL get a little jolt of that same feeling looking at a bag of about 100! But these weren’t for me…I had a plan!

Taking the bag to see my family I knew grandkids would be around. Just for fun I laid (gave) the bag down in front of one who was busy coloring. He INSTANTLY dropped his crayon and grabbed the bag. HE has the same reaction to gumballs as I do! I watched as he picked up the bag, grabbed a few and then left the bag on the open table. I smiled because he had passed the test!

As cousins came around, they helped themselves to the bag without hindrance. No one grabbed the bag and hid it away for themselves. BIGGER SMILE!!!

A question… was I ‘mean’ for having an ulterior motive for a bag of gumballs? In reality, they became MY gumballs the minute I paid for them. And “I” am allowed to do whatever I want with them. Teaching or testing a principle is something parents do. And God does the same thing.

EVERYTHING we have comes from God (Romans 11:36). We own NOTHING and God has a right to test us in our actions or reactions to ‘STUFF! He does it to see if we love HIM most!

One of the hardest lessons I ever learned, AND TEACH, is the lesson of giving. Over and over I tell folks, especially younger married adults with kids, if you want to GET… God first tells you to GIVE! From the Old Testament Mosaic Law to the New Testament command of Christ, GIVING ALWAYS precedes GETTING. I learned that lesson a LONG time ago… the HARD way. Now that I am older, I can absolutely and emphatically state that God is NOT a liar. Giving generously opens God’s hands because… He designed it that way!

The 2 most precious commodities on this planet are time and money. God, being God, promises He will bless us with plenty of both, IF we give the first part back to HIM! But WE have to go FIRST! THAT is the test! “How much time and money do I give back to God,” you ask? Well the answer is simple.. Ask HIM!

Our relationship to God is kind of like an appliance. It is either working or not. But the FIRST thing we have to do is to make sure we are plugged in. And when we are plugged in to HIM…giving and getting, we KNOW it!

So what are you doing with YOUR gumballs?