Matthew 4 - Thoughts

I am amazed at how willingly Jesus heals people in these chapters. Mostly because I notice how unwilling I can be to help other people. It's hard to give, because we work so hard for what we have, and in giving to others we want them to be deserving of our gift because what we give, we're also taking from ourselves.

Would we be different if we had unlimited supplies of what we give, like Jesus did with his priesthood power being able to heal people? I guess that's the whole question that King Benjamin talks about in Mosiah 4. "I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give."

I guess we don't have to give if we have nothing extra, but when we do have extra we share with others. It's hard to know what's "extra" and what's necessary for your living comfortably day to day. Is extra the splurge when you buy yourself a new pair of pants or an extra gallon of ice cream? Or does God allow those extra allowances before judging our hearts?