We are not store-rooms, but channels,
We are not cisterns, but springs,
Passing our benefits onward,
Fitting our blessings with wings;
Letting the water flow outward
To spread o’er the desert forlorn;
Sharing our bread with our brothers,
Our comfort with those who mourn.
—Wesleyan Methodist
Are your assets frozen assets? A little boy once had a piggy bank, and he was found putting water into the bank. Upon being asked what he was doing he said, “I’m going to put it into the freezer, and then my money will be safe.”
Let me hold lightly things of this earth; Transient treasures, what are they worth? Moths can corrupt them, rust can decay,
All their bright beauty fades in a day.
Let me hold lightly temporal things—
I, who am deathless, I, who wear wings!
Let me hold fast, Lord, things of the skies; Quicken my vision, open my eyes!
Show me Thy riches, glory and grace, Boundless as time is, endless as space. . . .
Let me hold lightly things that are mine— Lord, Thou dost give me all that is Thine!
— Martha S. Nicholson
All of the above quotations are taken from the book Covetousness, written and compiled by Edwin and Lillian Harvey and published by Harvey Christian Publishers. It is available in their online Christian Bookstore.