I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don’t want enough of God to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth.
I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
— Wilbur Rees
The adventure of life is an ongoing relationship with God. As Brennan Manning was fond of saying, for many, we desire to get close enough to God to be warmed but never too close that we may be consumed by the fiery love of the Father. A love, that if we allow it will renovate our lives from the inside out – consuming those things that aren't healthy and cultivating those things which lead not only to vibrant life eternally but also in the here and now.
We all hold different aspects of ourselves back from God. Those areas of our life where we want to be in control – maybe this is in the area of our finances, our children, our relationships, our job, and often our past and future. In these areas we are content with $3 worth of God – just enough to get a sense of His presence, enough that we may feel pious and justified in our personal stewardship of the area or issue.
$3 is a start, and the Father is patiently waiting, knocking and calling you to a deeper relationship – to relieve the heavy burdens that so many of us carry. Not to give us another management strategy but to transform you, a new way to live. Trust Him! Dive in! And oh yah… Keep your money!
Take Away
- What areas of your life do you keep God at a distance?
- Perhaps take a moment and prayerfully consider why?
- Without guilt or shame - in the spirit of the father with a sick son who said to Jesus "I believe but please help me with my unbelief" (Mark 9:24) - asking the Father for the grace to know His faithfulness in each of the particular areas of your life.
- Watch and see what begins to happen as you ask God for this daily and as you can, begin to trust God a little bit more each day.