Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Luke 12:32-33
“A more reasonable estimate of human costs and values will lead us to think that no labour is better expended than that which explores the way to the treasure-houses of the Spirit, and shows mankind where to find those goods which are increased by being shared, and which none can take from us.”
William Ralph Inge in Personal Religion and the Life of Devotion (London: Paternoster, 1924) 18.
Sit in this idea: that the Spirit gives us goods that are increased by being shared. It’s countercultural, counterintuitive, counter everything we’ve ever been taught to think. Welcome to life in the Kingdom!
I was reading Dallas Willard’s classic work, Spirit of the Disciplines, when I saw he quoted Inge. Thankfully, I was able to locate this old book that inspired Willard. So, I bought a copy of the 1924 hardcover for $2.56 plus shipping on Amazon.
I will to give it to my wife, Jenni. She’s the most wonderful person on earth. She points people to the Treasure-houses of the Spirit, where goods are increased by being shared.
If this sounds crazy then all I can say is to put the idea into practice to figure it out as you live it out, that you won’t end up empty by sharing generously but you will be enriched in every way!
Hear me (or really Inge) again. “No labour is better expended than that which explores the way to the treasure-houses of the Spirit.” Focus on gathering and sharing spiritual riches today.
God might just make you a conduit of divine love like Jenni is, and like I am learning to be. But I have a lot to learn. There’s hope for the rest of us!