Don’t Fear Generosity
Jesus' words in Luke 12 are certainly challenging, and I want to end the week with His words in verses 32-34: "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Luke 12:32-34)
We've already covered how we are told by Jesus not to be greedy, and not to store up the wrong treasures, and not to worry, and not to run after money and possessions. A lot of that is repeated in this section, but here Jesus adds something important: He tells us to sell our possessions and give to the poor.
Just the other day I heard a friend tell of how he one day felt utterly convinced that God was calling him to sell his car and give the money to a family who needed 6 months' rent money to get on their feet. I marvelled at his selflessness and generosity! He was embodying what Jesus spoke about here.
Overcoming Fear Through Faith
And I wondered how many of us would be willing to do such a thing. It wasn't just out of his abundance that he gave. It wasn't spare money that he used. It cost him to do that, but he felt called to it, and he obeyed that calling. A family was blessed, and according to my friend, so was he as he gave them this gift.
Jesus said "don't be afraid". How many of us fear generosity, because in the end we trust our financial plans above all else.
A lovely story is told of Eugenie, a Lutheran princess of Sweden. She was very interested in the building of a hospital; and when it was found that it would cost much more money to finish it than was expected, she sold her diamonds and gave the money that was needed to complete the building.
One day after the hospital had been built the princess went to visit the patients who were being treated in the different wards. At one point she stood at the bedside of one a patient who began to weep tears of gratitude as he thought of the kindness of the princess who stood before him. The princess is said to have beamed as she saw his tears. "Oh," she said as she looked into his teary eyes, "now I see my diamonds again."
God's Generosity Through Us
Is God calling you to sell your car, or your diamond, to give to the poor? Is God calling you to loosen your grip on your things, so that others may be blessed?
Dr. E. V. Hill said this: "When God blesses you materially, He seldom has you in mind. God gives it to you so that He can get it through you. If He can't get it through you, He'll stop giving it to you!"
So may you and I quit worrying and start trusting God in these matters, and may we be heartily generous to those who are in need. Jesus expects it of us.
