It’s more blessed to give
     than it is to receive.
While we can quote it,
     do we really believe?
There are some ways
     we can probably tell.
If we seek honest feedback
     from those we know well.

What would our friends say
      about how we live?
Do we take for our self,
     or would we rather give?
Would they say we’re generous
     with our time and our treasure?
Or would they say our giving
     is too small to measure?

Do we find ourselves taking
     and hoarding our stuff?
Because we are worried
     we won’t have enough.
Enough for the future,
     enough for right now.
Enough to succeed,
     if we only knew how.

Do we say we’ll give more
     once we feel secure?
Most of the time,
     that claim isn’t pure.
For what will it take
     to have more than we need?
When our life is controlled
     by our lust and our greed?

For the eye is not filled
     by the things that we see.
And there’s never enough
     when I think only of me.
But when I look heavenward,
     eyes fixed on above.
I find I have everything
     if I just have God’s love!

And as we consider
     the gift we now bring.
Is it really something
     that’s fit for a King?
Or is it what’s left
     after we take our part?
How will we know
     until we examine our heart?

So that’s what we do
     as we stop and pray.
We ask God to change us,
     turn our heart His way.
We set our mind firmly
     on things from above.
And recognize blessings
     as they come from His love.

© 2016 by Tom Lemler

I was asked to share a poem to lead into the offering time at a church service that was part of a day to honor my father-in-law, Gene Neyhart, for his years of service to God and to the Etna Green Church of Christ.  I don’t write poems, I just write them down as God gives them to me, so this was a huge task for a lot of reasons.  I spent a lot of time with God trying to clear from my mind the words I would want to say and hear just the right words to share.  During my prayer times about this, I would usually get a single block of 4 lines and then nothing.  But with enough prayer times, came enough blocks of lines to assemble into the poem I shared this morning which I now share here.

In prayer,
Tom