Today as I was asking God about how He provides, He brought me to John’s gospel in chapter 6 when Jesus feeds the 5,000. I thought about the young boy who was willing to give them his five loaves and two fish, and what must have gone through his mind in offering his food for the day to the disciples for the crowd. I don’t think we have a good perspective on what a sacrifice this was for this boy. He couldn’t run to the grocery store and buy more food, and he probably gave his food expecting he would go hungry that day. This boy didn’t know what Jesus was about to do, but he knew this teacher needed the food and gave it without any expectation of reward.
The other thing I realized is that this boy got to eat the multiplied food too! He didn’t go stand off to the side while everyone else ate—it was for him as well. And verse 12 says that everyone was “satisfied” so no one left hungry. What a beautiful way to show that whatever we offer and surrender to Jesus, He receives with joy and multiplies it for us as well as for those around us. It may not seem like much, or it may seem like everything. But either way, we get to partake in the generosity of our Heavenly Father.
Andrew Murray in Absolute Surrender says “It is the very nature and being of God to delight in communicating Himself. God has no selfishness, God keeps nothing to Himself. God’s nature is to be always giving. In the sun and the moon and the stars, in every flower you see it, in every bird in the air, in every fish in the sea. God communicates life to His creatures. And the angels around His throne, the seraphim and cherubim who are flames of fire—whence have they their glory? It is because God is love, and He imparts to them of His brightness and His blessedness. And we, His redeemed children—God delights to pour His love into us. And why? Because, as I said, God keeps nothing for Himself. From eternity God had His only begotten Son, and the Father gave Him all things, and nothing that God had was kept back. ‘God is love.’”
The Bible talks about giving generously, but it’s not a threat (as I’ve heard it so often used, as in, you didn’t sow so you won’t reap) or a manipulation (if I give then God will give to me). Instead, it’s an invitation to a greater and more fulfilling and deeper way of life. We kick out fear and live from a place of abundance. Remember what the father of the prodigal son says to the elder son when he protests the father’s generosity to his wayward brother—everything I have is yours! Everything God has is ours because He is not selfish, and holds nothing back. He empowers us to live generously because that is His nature.
My response to Him this morning was to say, yeah, but I don’t have enough. And I felt Him point to the boy who gave his entire meal, the widow who gave her last two coins, the disciples who gave their lives, and Jesus who gave His everything and continues to do so for us. I have enough to live generously with what I have, even if it’s not much or its not money. I don’t want to be controlled by fear of worrying about tomorrow, but instead will trust Him to allow me to enjoy the abundance as well. Jesus gave His life for the joy set before Him—there is joy in giving whatever we have.
When we give generously of whatever God has given to us, we celebrate the image of God in which we have been created. No selfishness, no self-protection, no fear. And we get to enjoy the benefits of giving generously.
Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity! 2 Corinthians 9:7