September 20, 2013

2 Corinthians 9:7-8 — Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

I wrote the other day about the idea that when Jesus gave, He gave big. Well, today it struck me that He came by His generosity honestly — He got it from His Father!
What put this thought in my mind was walking back from a bus stop to my hotel today. I’d been into the city for some sight-seeing … and now I was walking back past what I suppose some people would call scrubby undeveloped land.
Maybe I’ve got rose-colored spectacles, but I didn’t see the land that way. You see, as I walked past I saw rose hips, bilberries (these are a fruit much like North American blueberries or huckleberries that, oddly enough, are hard to cultivate but grow wild profusely), a leggy sort of buttercup with tiny flowers, some early Michelmas daisies, cow parsley, oak and elder trees and much more! Such a generous profusion of gifts poured from an open hand wherever they may fall!
It’s God’s way. The ladies in our church (including my beautiful Godly wife) are studying Malachi at the moment, so it seems good to remember what The Lord says there:

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (Malachi 3:10)

The Father doesn’t have a “matching gift” program. He has “multiplying giving” program.
And did the Son say? “I have come that they might live, and scrape by”? Certainly not! Jesus said:

… I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

God loves a generous giver … but why? Because He is not able to provide for all His children’s needs unless we chip in? I don’t think so! It’s all about God’s plan for us.
Those who know me know that I believe that nothing God asks of us is for His benefit, it’s always for ours. Our greatest benefit is to grow most rapidly into the beautiful image of His Son — to grow to be the perfection of His vision for us. We demonstrate that growth when our character reflects — oh so dimly and distantly — God’s own character. Imagine His delight therefore when we feel and follow an impulse to unchained generosity! Oh wonderful amazingly generous God. Even the example of His generosity is a gift to us, showing us the way to grow towards Him.
Thanks be to God who “openest His hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing!”