Basic Accounting

I once read a book by Jim Elliott. Jim was a Christian missionary who went to Africa with a team that included his wife to minister to a tribe that had never encountered other humans before. It took several years for the tribesmen to trust the missionaries. After years of goodwill and food drops, they began to comunicate and interact. The wives flew back to America for a few weeks and returned to find that the clan had killed and eaten the remaining missionaries. Jim's wife wrote a book and quoted her husband right before she left for vacation,"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose."

One thing I've learned in my short life is that all relationships are like bank accounts. It is all simply a matter of depositing and withdrawing. Someone once said that if you leave a positive account balance in everyone you encounter, the world would be a better place. What if we were to think of ourselves as ATMs, where friends and family members come to us and know what they are going to get consistently. Sometimes they may need $20, other times they may need $100. As long as we keep relying on God to keep refilling our machine, we will always have enough to give to others.