As Jesus looked up, He saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4
“If you don’t have a heart to give out of your lack, you won’t give out of your abundance. This widow had a generous heart. She gave even when she had little to give. She is one Jesus called generous… A generous person, gives above and beyond what is required of them. They look for ways to invest in the Kingdom of God and in God’s people. Their heart is to give.
Personally, I am always looking for ways to go deeper in God. To be more pleasing to Him. I think one of the ways I need to work on this year is being a more generous giver. I wake up each day and ask God who I can pray for today and that is great. But what about asking Him who I can bless financially today as well? To pray for someone only takes a little of my time. To bless someone financially, that will take more than a prayer…
While writing this today, I remembered a word someone I love dearly once gave me. She told me it would be a life Scripture to me, it was… And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work… There is certainly a way to have all grace about toward us…to have all sufficiency in all things…to have an abundance for every good work.
That way is to be a generous, bountiful giver. May God give us all a generous heart. A heart to give above and beyond what we feel is required of us. A heart like His. This year, may you and I become, a generous source of blessing to those whom the Lord leads us to bless.”
Kim Potter in “Becoming A Generous Source of Blessing” blog post dated 22 October 2021 from A New Thing Ministries. Special thanks to Daily Meditations reader, Pat Warbington, for sharing this post with me.
I am learning that giving out of my lack requires a generous heart that knows, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that God is the faithful supplier of everything I have ever needed, ever need now, and will ever need in the future.
The widow likely put in everything because over the course of her life she had experienced God’s faithfulness, so often that she knew He could be trusted to sustain her. So, what is the only way to grow in this area?
Potter points the way. We must grow in the grace of giving. That is, increase our giving to learn by experience why we are on this round ball called earth. Speaking of a round ball, I will conclude today’s post with a story.
I am flying to Atlanta today. I will attend the World Series #21. How is that possible you ask? About three decades ago I let go of my dream to be a Cleveland Indians season ticket holder to go to seminary.
God saw me give up everything to follow Him. In return, He did the impossible. I would forge a close relationship, like a spiritual advisor, to the founding owner of the Colorado Rockies. I encouraged him to be generous.
He knew my love for baseball so he put me on a special list which gives me access to up to 42 WS tickets a year at cost. All glory to God. I will attend WS #21. Better than that, I have shared more than 800 WS tickets.
How is this possible? It’s how God’s economy works. Let go of your plans, your dreams, even your money like the widow with a generous heart and see what happens. For me, WS tickets are a gift from God to enjoy and share.
I got to go to Houston in 2005 so I shared all my Houston tickets. In the future, if you want to a WS ticket that God supplies at face value, let me know when your team is in the Fall Classic. I will share with you as I am able.