In my sermon this past Sunday, I gave everyone a fun-size bag of Skittles and told the following story. It’s short but has a powerful message.
A few years ago I attended a pastor’s breakfast and heard the speaker share an experience he had with his granddaughter. I’ve never forgotten it. He said….
My grandchildren came for a visit and I took them out shopping. We stopped by a convenient store and my granddaughter wanted a bag of Skittles. So, I bought one for her.
We came home and she opened her new bag of candy. As I watched her eat them, I said, “Can I have some Skittles?” She said, “No.” I said, “Just give me a couple.” She said, “They’re mine.”
My granddaughter didn’t understand several things. First, she didn’t understand the fact that I was the one who bought the Skittles for her. She wouldn’t have any if it weren’t for me. She should show her gratitude and give me at least one. Second, she didn’t realize my strength. I’m strong enough to forcibly take those Skittles from her and eat every one of them. Third, she didn’t understand that I could have gone back to the story, put 300 packages of Skittles on a credit card, come back to her, and given her so many Skittles that she couldn’t have eaten them all in a year.
So the spiritual moral of this story is: We all have Skittles. Some of us have a pretty nice size pile of Skittles; others have a medium-size pile of Skittles; and some of us have little bags of Skittles. Our loving God comes to us and says, “Would you bring me some Skittles? Just a few Skittles?” What do you think our reaction is? “No! They’re mine!” God says, “Just bring me some Skittles.”
We don’t understand several things. God is the one who gave them to us. They’re His Skittles. He bought them. In an instant, God could take all of our Skittles. Also, we don’t understand that God could
rain so many Skittles on our lives, we wouldn’t know what to do with them. We couldn’t possibly spend or enjoy all of them.
I don’t know what it is God is asking from you, but I encourage you to give Him whatever He wants. I’ve discovered this truth, “If you want to save your life, you have to give it away. But if you want to lose everything, tighten your grip.”
So give your money, give your abilities, give your time, give your love, and give your life.