I've been trying to help the children at church understand that Jesus is King, and what it means for him to be King of our hearts, time, friendships and even our pocket money, what it looks like to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness" (Matthew 6 v 33).
It seems they have been listening.
Last Sunday, when it got to that point in the service when the collection bag came round, I put in my usual smattering of coins. I have a standing order to the church bank account, so my weekly cash offering is just a bit on top.
But moments later, two small hands dove into my purse. Two little girls removed a fistful of cash and put it into the velvet pouch we use to collect money for “Jesus’ work”.
“Do you think that’s enough now?” I whispered, hoping to avoid alerting the rest of the congregation to my emerging fiscal crisis. But no, yet more of my money was removed and given to Jesus. Why? Because he is King over all we have.
My stomach knotted. I wanted to chastise them for taking my cash. I needed it to buy cake and to hop on and off buses so I could avoid walking short distances in the cold.
But as the pound coins tumbled, the penny started to drop. I had fallen into the trap of thinking that because I give regularly to the church, I’ve done my bit. I had subconsciously assumed that the rest of my cash could be spent on whatever I liked without any reference to God. Despite teaching on it, I hadn’t really grasped that Jesus is King over everything in my purse.
I did the maths when I got home. The remaining money is more than adequate for my needs. But the missing cash, the stuff that would have gone on meaningless trivia, is now going to gospel-work. And on reflection, that’s pretty exciting (even more exciting than cake!)
