They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then… also to us. (2 Corinthians 8:5)

So where did #GivingTuesday come from, anyway? If you are like me, your social media feed and email inbox are filled with #GivingTuesday “opportunities.”

Let me get this straight… after Thanksgiving on Thursday, there is Black Friday, followed by Small Business Saturday, followed by Cyber-Monday and then Giving Tuesday. When I first encountered this several years ago, I thought it was a hoax, but it’s legit. Check it out- www.givingtuesday.org.

According to the website, Giving Tuesday is designated in the USA as the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It’s an online movement started in 2012 that has resulted in 2,500,000 people raising over $300,000,000 in 150 countries But, beyond just raising funds, hundreds of humanitarian organizations around the world are participate in neighborhood outreach connected with Giving Tuesday.

I love it that so many in our world see the need to partner together to be generous to those in need. Of course, there is a huge irony here. Giving Tuesday is only AFTER we stuff ourselves with turkey and watch football on Thursday and AFTER we get up early and stay out late hustling for door buster sales (or splurge on Amazon) on Friday. And then, AFTER we stimulate the local economy by buying gifts from local shops and merchants on Saturday; and AFTER we update our technology and buy presents for everyone we can think of on Monday. Then, and only then… and if you have anything left… be generous towards others on Giving Tuesday. WOW!

But the values of God’s kingdom are completely opposite of all of this. In God’s upside-down economy, when we put God FIRST everything else falls into place (Matthew 6:33). We lose our life to find it; we get- not to keep all for ourselves, but to give it away again.The Bible verse above gets it right… They, (God’s people, followers of Jesus, the church) gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then… also to us. As a Jesus follower, I am not my own, my stuff is not my own, my agenda is not my own. God is the source and giver of all blessings and everything is a tool to advance his kingdom. He has first priority, not me.

Now, I don’t expect #GivingTuesday to be moved ahead of Black Friday any time soon. We live in a “me first” world and our society reflects that. But as Christian’s we have an opportunity to live life differently. We get to experience the joy that comes from putting God first. Are you experiencing that joy?