Robert was a librarian at the University of New Hampshire.
and he was a librarian there for 50 years.
Robert was a pretty frugal guy.
He never went out to eat.
He ate TV dinners.
He drove a 1992 Plymouth,
and he loved, he loved to read.
At one point, he decided to read all the books in the library.
He started with the books
that were written in the 1930s
and didn't stop until he had read 1,938 books.
He had read them in chronological order.
Robert died in 2015
and a couple of weeks after he died,
the University of New Hampshire received a check from his estate for
$4 million.
Nobody was expecting it.
Nobody thought that he was worth that kind of money.
And he left only one instruction.
He, he wanted $100,000 of the four million dollars
to go towards the library that he loved so much.
But he said the university was free to use the money,
the rest of the money, in whatever way that they wanted.
And so the university, knowing his great love of reading,
knowing his great love of books,
knowing his severe dislike for anything extravagant,
they decided to use the next million dollars of his estate
on a new scoreboard for the football stadium,
a football stadium that they had just spent $25 million renovating.
Now, the university didn't do anything wrong.
Other than the request for a $100,000
to go towards the library,
he really did say that they could use the money
in whatever way that they wanted.
But there are a lot of people who were very upset with the university
because they felt it was very obvious what Robert loved,
and it seems like what he loved
didn't really matter all that much to anyone.
This week we're going to go through a section of scripture in Luke chapter 16
that shows us very clearly that what you love
really does matter
and it matters to God.
In Luke chapter 16, Jesus told the story about two men,
a rich man and the guy named Lazarus.
And this is how it goes.
This is how it starts.
Two very different lives,
two very different descriptions of what people love during their lives.
And as we'll see during the week,
two very different outcomes for each of those lives.
But the story illustrates the principle that what you love really does matter.
It means something.
And that was the case, even for the person who's telling the story.
Well, what Jesus loved most in his life
was you.
It was you.
"Greater love has no one than this," he once told his disciples,
"that he lay down his life
for his friends."
He considered you his friend.
He loved you
and that made a difference in his life.
It made a difference in how he lived,
in who he spent time with,
in what he taught.
And also made a difference
in how he died,
and why he did.
He died
loving you.
What he loved made a difference in his life,
and what he loved also made a difference in your life.
And that difference is what we'll be talking about this week.
Jesus was excessively rich in his love for you.
Do you have a story about how someone in your life
was excessively rich in their love towards you or for someone else?
We'd love to hear about it and celebrate that love with you.
Leave it in the comments below
and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét