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God's Abundance -- Enough to Share

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


Website by Stablegirl Cindy
Sunrise and Sunset Photography courtesy of Stablegirl Cindy



God's Abundance --
Enough to Share


"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.

Read Article