What does it mean to share? You remember your parent or loved one reminding you to share your toys when friends came over to play or maybe you are the one who reminds your kids to share. At some point you might have been asked to share your thoughts on a particular topic or your favorite recipe for the delicious desert that you made at your last gathering. But what does it mean for us as faithful followers of Jesus to share?
The Bible has a lot to say about giving. The Israelites were to give their first fruits to God (Leviticus 23:9-14). Jesus tells the rich young man to sell all his possessions and give to the poor (Matthew 19:16-30) and he highlights the widow who gave two small coins as the example of how to give (Mark 12:41-44). And Paul teaches that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
Recently, I ran across a YouTube video of Cookie Monster who does a cover to Carly Ray Jepsen’s original song “Call me Maybe.” Cookie Monster changes the words to talk about his favorite thing, cookies. He says, “Hey, me just met you, and this is crazy, but you got cookie, so share it maybe.” Throughout the music video cookie monster watches a bowl of cookies move around an office workspace. He wants the cookies, begs for the cookies and dreams about the cookies. The whole video up until the very end is all about someone else sharing the cookies with him.
Cookie Monster loves cookies like we love money, success, status, looks, and so much more. We want someone else to give us the recognition we need to get what we want and sometimes, like Cookie Monster, one cookie isn’t enough. We need more and more. Nothing seems to satisfy, we need more.
But is why this video is so intriguing because at the end of the video, Cookie Monster is given lots of cookies and he devours about 5 of them and suddenly he stops and puts the last cookie forward for us. That is what sharing looks like in the church. We pause for just a moment and give something back. Maybe it is time give at a mission project, leadership for an event, a listening ear, money in the offering plate, or a smile to a friend. Whatever it is, we pause saying, “God gave me this and now I give back to you.”
Cookie Monster loves cookies and shared some of them, what can you share that God has given you?
Click here to view YouTube video.
