The Pig I Have

One morning a rural pastor was out visiting folks in his congregation and had this conversation with a poor farmer.

Pastor: “Farmer Brown, if you had two horses, would you give one of them to the Lord?”

Farmer: “Absolutely, Pastor, you know that I would.”

Pastor: “If you had two cows, would you give one of them to the Lord?”

Farmer: “Without thinking twice about it, in a heartbeat, Pastor.”

Pastor: “If you had two pigs, would you give one of them to the Lord?”

Farmer: “Well, now, Pastor, that's not fair. You know I have two pigs.”

(Kudos to Pastor David Sauer for this great story.)

We're happy to give God what we don't have. “Lord, if you let me hit the lottery, I'll give you a million dollars, pay off the church's property, and then I'll start tithing. And since I won't have to work, I'll spend 4 hours a day praying and worshipping, reading my Bible, and communing with you.”

But God doesn't want the horse or the cow we don't have. He wants the pig we do have. He knows our schedule. He doesn't want the million dollars or the 4 hours a day we don't have. Or even the hour a day we don't have. He wants the 10 minutes a day, even the 5 minutes a day, that we do have.

Let's start there. Let's start daily. With something. No guilt, we're not checking a box here. Just giving him what we do have.

That's how you build intimacy with the Lord. That's how relationship starts. Spend that daily time, just you and him, no matter how small. Faithfully. As you're faithful, you'll be amazed and how faithful he will be in giving you more time. Watch it grow. Tell me in the comments what happens.