This Is the Great Adventure!

In the heart of every person, there is this deep longing to be a part of a great adventure. You see it when kids are young and building a fort and pretending to be King Arthur or Peter Pan. But somehow as we grow older, that sense of adventure and a longing for more seems to be satisfied too easily by stuff. We become almost enthralled with the protection of our stuff that we stop looking for that adventure.



But yesterday as I was reading I Cor. 9:7, which we have all heard too many times during the tithes and offering part of church, "for God loves a cheerful giver," I ran across something that stopped me in my tracks. Allow me to be a nerd for a moment. The Greek word for "giver" is dŏtēs, which comes from the base of the word didōmi, which means to give or to go on an adventure.

And I'm sure you've heard me say this before, but the word cheerful comes from the Greek word hilarŏs, which means hilarious. But it also means prompt or willing. So in essence this verse that we usually just take as meaning God wants you to be happy about Him taking your money really means this, "God loves someone who is willing and ready to go on an adventure!"

So in the words of my mullet-ed friend, Steven Curtis Chapman, "This is the great adventure!" Giving, not getting, is the greatest of adventures that we could ever hope to go on.

The Lawson's: This Is the Great Adventure!: