Unexpected Generosity

I recently read a story about generosity that I think rightly conveys how powerfully God can use us to express His love to others.

Shortly after World War II came to a close, Europe began picking up the pieces. Much of the Old Country had been ravaged by war and was in ruins. Perhaps the saddest sight of all was that of little orphaned children starving in the streets of those war-torn cities. Early on a chilly morning, an American soldier was making his way back to the barracks in London. As he turned the corner in his Jeep, he spotted a little lad with his nose pressed to the window of a pastry shop. Inside the cook was kneading dough for a fresh batch of doughnuts. The hungry boy stared in silence, watching every move. The soldier pulled his Jeep to the curb, stopped, got out and walked quietly over to where the little fellow was standing. Through the steamed-up window he could see the mouth-watering morsels as they were being pulled from the oven, piping hot. The boy salivated and released a slight groan as he watched the cook place them onto the glass-enclosed counter, ever so carefully. The soldier's heart went out to the nameless orphan as he stood beside him. "Son...would you like some of those?" The boy was startled. "Oh, yeah...I would!" The American stepped inside and bought a dozen, put them in a bag, and walked back to where the lad was standing in the foggy cold of the London morning. He smiled, held out the bag, and said simply, "Here you are." As he turned to walk away, he felt a tug on his coat. He looked back and heard the child ask quietly, "Mister...are you God?"

We are never more like God than when we give. "God so loved the world, that he gave ..."

The Scriptures truly portray God’s character as that of a generous giver! Though this is a repeated attribute of God throughout the Bible, there are two prominent places in which this is made known. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he writes of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Later within that same letter Paul writes of Jesus, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

We are truly never more like God than when we give out of a heart of generosity.

In the coming weeks, all of us will be challenged to evaluate the manner in which we emulate Jesus in our generosity. And we will be provided opportunities to give of our time, our service, and our finances to a greater degree than perhaps ever before. You will be hearing more about the “Advance the Harvest” campaign in which we will seek to practically exhibit the generosity of God for His glory. Allow God to begin to examine your own heart now to determine just how generous you are.

Advancing His Harvest,

Jason