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God's Abundance -- Enough to
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also published in the Geauga Maple
Leaf
"Honor the Lord with thy substance.... So, shall thy barns
be filled with plenty." This verse from the book of Proverbs indicates
that there is a cause-effect relationship in acknowledging the goodness
of God. As we honor God with our substance, we also are honored by God
with "plenty," --with abundant supply.
But, what if our "substance" seems so small as to be insignificant?
Jesus, addressed this argument when he pointed out to his students a
widow woman who had thrown two "mites" into the collection at church.
(This would be about a farthing,--less than a penny's worth.) She didn't
stop to weigh the pros and cons of whether to contribute anything at
all, nor did she wring her hands and take thought, "saying what shall we
eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed?" She
was confident that her "heavenly Father knows" that she has "need of all
these things." She was doing what Jesus said we all should do,--she was
seeking "first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" and knowing
that "all these things [would] be added."
In illustrating the importance of valuing spiritual things and honoring
God and his creation beyond all other concerns, the Master continued:
"Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for
the things of itself." In other words, we can trust God to take care of
us tomorrow just as He has provided for today. The children of Israel in
the Sinai wilderness tried to hoard up provisions for the future. But,
the manna (their “bread from heaven”) became inedible, and they had to
learn to trust God for their “daily" bread. The Lord's Prayer reminds us
to ask God for our daily provision. We pray: "Give us this day our daily
bread."
Didn't Jesus show his disciples, whom he had asked to go ahead and feed
the crowd of thousands, how to do that with only five loaves and two
fishes? "Give ye them to eat." Well, he got an earful of impossibilty
and limitation. Yet, knowing the divine provision of daily needs, Jesus
fed the multitude and had 12 baskets left over! He knew the nature of
God's divine supply and the nature of man's spiritual substance.
This evidence of the divine provision isn't in pounds of flour and
yeast, or even in the manna that fell in Sinai. It is in the spiritual
substance which is part of the make-up of man made in God's likeness.
God's man (you) already includes everything essential to success. You
include all the qualities of God,--not only abundant supply but also,
health, peace, companionship. You have the substance of thought by which
you can identify yourself as an "heir of God and joint-heir[s] with
Christ."
St. Paul reassured the Corinthians with this statement: "For if there be
first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and
not according to that he hath not. For I mean not that other men be
eased, and ye burdened: But by an equality, that now at this time your
abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may
be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:"
Let’s accept that bread from heaven, that abundant substance, and
gratefully share it.
Submitted by Toni Alexander
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