For
it is in giving that we receive
Give,
and you will receive. You will be given much, pressed down, shaken together,
and running over. It will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is
the way God will give to you.
Luke
6:38
There’s
a country song that asks the question, “What if he’s an angel sent here from
heaven?” He is the nameless, faceless man at the corner with a sign, “Anything
will help”. She is the hunched-over woman pushing a shopping basket that
contains all of her earthly belongings. He is the young man selling bracelets made
of dime-store pony beads. You smile and say, “No, not today.” Or you walk by as
if no one is there. You may even cross the street for fear he may harm you. You
may assume he or she would just go out and buy a bottle of cheap beer. You
silently say, “There but for the grace of God go I.”
Yes,
God graces me every day. He graces me with a roof over my head, food on my
table, and a sweater to shield me from the morning chill. Am I any better than
the man at the corner? Could my circumstances change such that I find myself without
the necessities of life – a serious illness that wipes out my savings, a fire
that reduces my home to a pile of ash and cinder-memories, an economic downturn
that leaves me without a job? There but for the grace of God go I.
The
other day I turned away a panhandler. I’ve seen him before at other places, and
he always has the same story. I often give him a handful of change, but today,
I didn’t have it. What if he is an angel?
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