In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches about giving to the most important things, those things that last and are rewarded in heaven and in eternity. Matthew 6:21 reads, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
All of us face the tyranny of the urgent, the distractions of the squeaky wheel, the lure of shiny objects, or the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) of the exciting. Often, we find ourselves at the end of the day thinking that while we were busy, we didn’t accomplish the priority things we had set out to do at the beginning of the day.
Time management experts give us all types of tools and hints, practices and habits to keep us focused on priority tasks. Yet, often, these tools don’t solve our problem because they don’t engage our heart.
Jesus teaches us that we focus where our heart is. We give with our money but also with our time and talents. All three work together. People tend to give money and time to where they can use their talents. People give their time and talents to where they give their money.
Several friends recently shared they planned to keep up the energy of learning after they graduated. They loved the learning atmosphere of the university. They loved the focus on learning, big ideas, the Bible and a global community of friends they shared with every day which engaged their mind with big ideas and gave them new excitement to pursue God. Yet, after graduation they got busy with other things. It has been hard to keep up what is most important to them when they are pulled by good things, but not the best things.
If you are like my friends, giving time, talent and money to BGU can be an excellent time management tool. As graduates get more involved in BGU’s fast growing alumni network, they rediscover the joy of the learning excitement they miss from their student days. As people take certificate courses, or audit city immersions in large global cities, they find a renewed excitement about God’s work in their world, and in their own lives. As they donate to BGU, they find themselves paying a lot more attention to the new frontiers of God’s global movements that BGU is finding and sharing.
BGU needs the donations of graduates and friends to serve students who are called by God to make such significant impact in over 60 nations. Please prayerfully consider giving to BGU during the last few months of this year. My hope is that your giving will return to you with new heart passion for what matters the most to you.
Brad Smith
Chancellor, BGU