Philippians 4:10-20

The people who helped Paul were also suffering hardship, but there was a huge promise for them: 19You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.

Our cell group fetched a bin full of naartjies from a De Doorns farmer. The best and sweetest naartjies around. The taste just exploded in your mouth with the most wonderful aromas as you bit into that first slice and you simply could not stop eating. As we ate, the group put the naartjies into smaller bags and back on the bakkie.

The next morning at church we put the bags at the doors so that everyone could take a bag after the service.

Everybody was very grateful, but you could see that not all of them knew what to do with this free gift. A bright orange card in each bag said: You are blessed to bless others.

There was no right or wrong about it. Everyone could do as he or she wished. Some had a naartjie right there and then. Others gave it to street people. Others took it home.

This is kind of a picture of us. Some use blessings only for themselves. Others immediately share blessings with others. Others take it home because they don’t really know what to do with it.

What do you do with the blessings that God gives you in abundance?

God wants to bless us. God wants to share his abundance with us. He wants to provide in all our needs. The King James Version puts it so beautifully: 19But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

God wants to provide abundantly, in excess, buckets full, bags full of “his riches”. He wants to fill our tanks so that it can overflow to others. But we must start giving to others even before the tank fills up. Even when we have little we should start sharing. One has to learn to give part of that first R10 away, because if you can’t do it with R10, you’re going to struggle with R100. If you eventually manage to have R1 000, it will become impossible to give some of it away if you hadn’t learned to do it with R10.

We receive so many blessings every day. Maybe we should ask the Lord to help us see all those blessings again. We will certainly be overcome with gratitude and easily start blessing others.

Know that God loves people who give with a smile. Know that it releases a wonderful aroma. Know that God will provide in all your needs. I trust that this will be true for all of us.

You are blessed to bless others.

Reflection

Are you being blessed?

Do you share enough?

Do you like giving?

Prayer

Father, thank you for blessing me. Thank you for providing in all my needs. Please help me bless others. Amen