Two Dollars on Daffney

Please note:  Taking my cue from our hostess, I wrote my post on today's IOWT last week.  :)  If you would like to read that one, please see Holy Humor - An Expected Tool for Victory.  Thanks!
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As I came down the sidewalk to the sanctuary this morning, I happened to pass by a young boy, about eight years old, giving his mother the following account:

"I spent two dollars on Daffney, a dollar on Josh, and ..."

That's all I caught as we were proceeding in opposite directions; they were leaving the 9:30 a.m. service as I was going into the 11:00 o'clock.  His young face was alight with cheer as he evidently felt he had done a good job with whatever his little fund had been, and his expression seemed to indicate that he expected that his mom would be pleased with his report.  She looked like she was.

I smiled to myself as I entered the building, thinking; "Good for her. It is never too young to begin to teach them that we must each give an account for what we have had entrusted to us."

Sure enough, the morning message included an admonition about giving some serious consideration to how we are using our "time, talent, and treasure".

Accountability:  our world seems to be in short supply of this particular ethical commodity.  In a retrospective of the 2008 financial meltdown, the documentary "Inside Job"  painfully spotlighted those who were in positions of power and influence, saying repeatedly, "Well, we actually did not have that information at that time.  We really did not know until it was too late."  Not to be too indelicate, but please, gag me with a spoon.

It reminded me of that long-ago spring when I watched the Watergate hearings, "What did you know and when did you know it?"

Powerful men would ponder sagely and then reply, "At this point in time, it is difficult to say, precisely when such information might have been available, even if we had known it's significance, which of course, we could not know at that time."  Arrgggghhh!

Romans 14:12 tells us, "So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God."

On that day, we will look into our Father's face, much as that little boy looked at his mother this morning on the church sidewalk, and we will give an account of our "two dollars on Daffney" - that is, we will explain what we did with our time, our talents, and our treasure.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be mumbling around about how "if I had known it was important, I would have given more" - or "if I had realized that was a waste of my time, I would have used my energy more productively" - etc.

Seriously, when was the last time that I wasted time and knew that was what I was doing and did so anyway?  Maybe yesterday?  My grandmother would have been sorely disappointed, as there was no more disdainful activity in her book than to be "frittering your time away."

Or conversely, when do I last recall giving generously to a worthy cause and wish I had given less?  Just doesn't seem to happen. When it comes time for me to give an account of "my two dollars on Daffney", I want to be able to lift a faith-filled face and look into my Father's smiling eyes, give a true and honest report, and through his grace hear, "Well done."  Don't you?
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Dear Lord, please help us to give generously and live with intentional productivity.  Help us to become more of who and what you would have us to be.  Give us the wisdom to use our time, talents and treasure in ways that will allow you to smile upon our efforts.