A Giving Heart
Good Morning Friends,
One of the youth associated with the State Farm Youth Advisory Board shared with us a fundraising strategy he developed for support of the purchase of medications for those in financial need. It was a simple request. Once you have finished with a prescription pill bottle, remove the personal information then fill it with change that would be donated to purchase medications for others. Basically everyone could participate in some fashion. All that was needed was A Giving Heart.
Scripture: [Jesus] 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 21:3-4 (NIV)
As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NRSV)
Message: Friends, there is a giving that prompts greatness and teaches us and others how our giving can please God and warm our hearts. It starts with knowing we are to use what God has given us. It hinges on realizing that God is richer than we can imagine and desires us to increase our joy. It cultivates a generous heart that is always ready to share. Yes we have a responsibility to give but there is more to it than that. It is not a somber pleasure stifling precept that is to prompt our giving. There is a treasure here that many think is delayed gratification… some kind of future heavenly storehouse of good works but this misses to point of what we are to experience now. We are to enjoy what we have and one of the ways we are to enjoy it is to be ready and willing to share generously with others. This is how we can be of service to God and really experience the amazing life God has prepared for us.
Pray we use the resources God has placed in our care to honor Christ and aid those in need. Pray our priorities match God’s will for our lives. Pray we are rich but humble. Pray we trust in God not gold. Pray we enjoy what God has given us. Pray we are rich in good works. Pray we take hold of the true life…the one Jesus died for so we might too share love. Pray we realize that filing God’s prescription for our healing includes refilling our lives to overflowing as agents of change. Pray we have a generous giving heart.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 