Daily
Devotional

When my grandson was three, his attention was captured during a visit to the toy department by a bright yellow plastic chainsaw that made a sound just like a real one. He begged his mom to buy it for him, but there were two little boys in the family and it would have been unfair to give one a treat and not the other. Money was tight and two toys were not in the budget. However, Mom had a solution: she would buy the chainsaw for her son if he would share it with his older brother. Despite his desire for the toy, my grandson was unwilling to accept the proposed solution. He did not want to share, so they left the store without a toy chainsaw.

On the ride home, in the backseat of the car sat a determined little boy, arms crossed, defiantly refusing to share a new toy with anybody. He would rather go without. However, the sound of that chainsaw rang in his ears throughout the night and the early morning. Mom stuck to her edict, and the next day, her son reconsidered. He decided that half a chainsaw was better than none, so Mom got the toy for the boys to share. And in the end, sharing was not as hard to do as my grandson had expected. Only two days later, the “newness” of the chainsaw had worn off, and it was just another toy.

Our focus verse speaks of the Christians in the Early Church, who the Bible says generously shared everything they had. No doubt some had more than others, but they made sure that the needs of each were provided. And although Christians generally do not keep “all things common” anymore, we are still known for a willingness to give to others. Unlike my grandson, who chose to share simply because it would benefit himself, Christians give with no expectation of compensation. When we see a family having financial problems beyond their control, we want to share! We dig into our resources to make sure that no one is left without. It is not always easy to give, but we do it out of love. We would rather make a personal sacrifice than see another suffer.

Being on the receiving end of charitable gifts is not always easy either. Yet we can remind ourselves that our turn to give will come, and that by being willing to accept help, we bring a blessing to a generous soul. When we have given of our resources, and of ourselves, we go away blessed. And like my grandson learned, we often discover that the things we give are not even missed. Yes, we will have to make do with less, but God provides our needs so faithfully that our contribution is a light burden.  

Let us take every opportunity to share with each other and exemplify God’s love!