And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Luke 6:35
For the past 6 weeks, my life has been dominated by organizing, volunteering and working with so many wonderful people through Backpack Connections to love families in our city and county through giving out first day school supplies. Some days are really long, some days are filled with interruptions, some days, everything seems to go as planned, and every day involves interacting with old friends and new friends.
So, the question is asked in a round-a-bout way, why do you do this? Why are you so passionate to spend so much of your free time in the summer just to give school supplies away? Pam has her own answers, I have mine. But the overarching answer for Christians is found in the commands and expectations of God.
Bound up in the character of God is His willingness to give, share and be kind. Notice the last part of Luke 6:35, Jesus is talking about the nature of God, “because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” (Side note, sometimes people are ungrateful and don’t understand the effort it takes.) Because we are children of the Most High, the writer of Hebrews reminds us, “do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
To share in a way that pleases God will include sacrifice. It may be giving up your time which could be used in many other ways. It may include giving something away of value, in which you don’t have the funds to replace it immediately. It may feel very inconvenient. The joy of sharing may not come until later. When you are following God’s promptings, the sharing ends with a “this was the right thing” feeling.
As believers, we taught our children about the open hand policy. We would have them open their hands with the palms facing up. We would place a $1.00 in the hand, wait a moment and then try to take it from them. Sometimes they would close the hand as if to say “no, it’s mine now.” We would convince them it is okay for them to trust us and keep the hand open. We would take the $1.00 and wait one moment and if they kept their palm open, then put $5.00 in their hand. We would repeat the cycle several times, sometimes adding more money and then sometimes putting less money in their hand. At the end of the exercise, we made sure they always had more than they started with.
ALL that you own and possess is God given. Keep your hand open to allow Him to remind you to share as needed. The open palm is ready to receive and ready to give. May you enjoy the journey to see how God will give and supply to others through your life, possessions, and time.
Blessings Love y’all
Now Jonathan’s “open hand policy” makes sense! You and Pam did a great job instilling this concept in your children’s mind. It is still paying dividends today.