Proverbs 22: 9 A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
I have often caught myself saying things like, boy imagine how generous I could be if I could win the lottery. Even today I caught myself daydreaming of all the good I could do with 200 million dollars. There is no doubt that I could do great things with that money but that isn’t at all what Solomon meant when he talked about a generous heart. I sat down today with my son to watch that old school version of robin hood. You know the one, the disney version with all the animals. I’m sure it’s the best version. There was a scene in the movie that reminded me of a generous heart. Remember the scene where Friar tuck is in his church and a little church mouse comes out and offers her last farthing for the poor, even though she herself was poor? It reminded me of the widow who came to Jesus and offered her last mite to his ministry. Or even the widow who took care of Elijah by offering him her last bit of flour and oil. Over the years I have become more and more convinced that God is very concerned with the motives of our heart. He knows the inward places of our heart but he never ceases to test and bring out our true motives. For instance, I run a homeless ministry, I love to feed the homeless. Yesterday I was trying to get lunch at popeyes, (pretty great chicken) then I heard a voice asking me to buy them food. Of course I bought her food but I have to say that when you’re strapped financially it hurts a little more. I thought to myself, this is what it’s all about. How hypocritical would I be if I only fed the hungry when I was using someone else’s money and resources! I have found that time and time again God has asked me to give more when I was lacking resources than when I was doing ok. Its in these times that we find out if we have a generous heart or if we just like to call ourselves generous. I think we all like to call ourselves generous. Think about it who really calls themselves stingy? Next time you are tested, remember that God asks for a generous heart not a generous wallet! Don’t wait until you have more money, don’t wait for everything to be in place, don’t wait for everything to make sense with your 5 year financial plan. The scripture says that the generous will be blessed for he shares HIS food with the poor. Think of it like this, we are meant to be rivers of blessing, the more we bless others the more we can receive from God. If we ever start to store the blessings we will become a stagnate lake. Pour out everything so that you may receive everything.
Much love
