* Notice what Jesus said to the man - “go, SELL what you have and give to the poor.”

* He didn’t say, “go, GIVE what you have to the poor.”

* Jesus told him to do business first and give second.

* This meant he had to take inventory, set prices, market them, negotiate, exchange money, package and/or deliver the items, and close the transaction.

* It’s like Jesus said, “Handle your business so you can give to the poor.”

* We often give before we sell - we don’t do business so we have no means of sustaining our giving.

* This man had seed for harvest - the seed was his stuff, harvest was the money he could make off his stuff.

* We are not to give away our seed, but the harvest.

* In business we don’t give away our rocket fuel, we give away parts of the rocket when we get back.

* We don’t give to the poor out of our operational account but our general account.

* Handle the operations properly and you’ll have plenty in the general account to give.