Wednesday Bible Blurb All In 2 4 2026
We walked into the supermarket grocery store with our new friends. My wife and I found ourselves hosting a married couple from Nigeria in our home for a few weeks as they settled into life at college in California. Talk about “culture shock”! We were of different races, lived on different continents with different environments, laws, customs and monetary systems. We were held together by the fellowship of Jesus and the same faith. Loving God and being one in His family were all that mattered to us as we walked like brothers into the “supermarket” grocery store. This is where things started to get, shall I say, “fun”? Once inside the massive food store, they were all in for shopping the plentiful food.
As we walked up to the grocery store, the doors automatically opened. Shock and a how did that happen for our new friends. Apparently in 1980 doors did not automatically open in Nigeria. Immediately in their view there was row upon row of food for buying. There were no flies, nothing was left out in the hot sun and the building was air-conditioned. Culture shock. Then we saw piles of chickens ready for purchase. As we stood there to get one whole chicken, Joseph (Not his real name) began loading chicken after chicken into the shopping cart as I unloaded chicken after chicken back into the store cold storage bin. We must have made quite a sight for folks as we raced back and forth playing chicken toss. Finally, I asked him why he was trying to put so many chickens into the cart. Answer: “They are so cheap.” My response was “this is the normal everyday price, no need to stock up.” Again, he was shocked. He was all into buying chicken for so cheap but soon the new culture and way of doing things began to take over.
How ALL INare we to Jesus? Are we trying to pile chicken after chicken into our spiritual supermarket shopping basket? Are we excited to do the work Jesus called us to do or are we net consumers of the gospel? Do we sit and take in the sermon and then do nothing with it? Are we givers or takers of what Jesus has to offer us? Is Jesus our chicken soup for our soul? Are we giving and living His way of life or are we consuming his way of life? Do we think of our life as “one for all and all for one”? Do we give or take from the gospel in our private lives?
Consider the encounter between Jesus and the rich young man. “Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.” (Luke 18:18-23 [NKJV]). The rich young man was at heart, a net consumer of the gospel. His question of “what shall I do” was in effect a monetary statement of I do this now you reward me. It was in his mind a spiritual buying and selling of salvation. I will do this for a price. He was incapable of giving up his riches, yet he kept the law. He wanted to pile chickens into his spiritual lunch basket. He was a net consumer of the gospel. He was not all in.
The church was new and the supermarket of God’s love was open to those who followed Jesus with their whole heart. Acts 5:1-9 tells us about the gospel consumers named Ananias and his lovely wife Sapphira. They came to Peter and lied as to their monetary gift for the sake of the gospel. The result was they died as net consumers of the gospel. They were not all in.
Just before Ananias and Sapphira show up in Acts we were introduced to Joses in Acts 4:32-37. Joses, a rich man who kept the law and loved Jesus and the gospel so much that he gave ALL, he was “ALL IN” for the sake of the gospel. Joses was so impressive as to his loving and giving heart that the apostles renamed him, Barnabas, meaning “Son of encouragement.” Barnabas became mentor to Saul, a friend of the apostles and a major leader in the Church of God. Barnabas was a giver of the gospel dispensing the chickens of life throughout the entire Mediterranean area. Barnabas was ALL IN for Jesus.
She was probably an older grey-haired widow of Israel as she approached the treasury of the temple. In front of her were many rich people showing off how much they contributed towards the temple. These rich donors were net consumers of the gospel as they tossed dead chicken (In monetary form) into the treasury. She slowly made her way and put into the treasury box, “two mites”, all she had. Everything. Nothing left to live on. Truly the widow was “ALL IN”. The widow and her example have contributed to the Church of God for 2,000 years. She was ALL IN for the gospel as she knew it.
Are we net consumers of the gospel or are we ALL IN for the gospel? Do we hold back our “two mites” and worry about our lives today or are we dispensing spiritual chickens for the sake of preaching the gospel? My newfound friends from Nigeria were ALL IN for the gospel and we became good friends. Are we like Barnabas and giving ALL for the gospel or do we emulate Ananias and Sapphira who were chicken enough to hold back? We must not be net consumers of the gospel. Our reasonable service is to give all for the sake of Jesus and His kingdom work.
Don’t be a chicken. Let’s be “ALL IN” for the gospel of the kingdom of God!
Mike Wallace
