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Giving from plenty

Monday, February 21, 2005

Luke 6:36-38
Jesus says,

"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.

"Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure - pressed down, shaken together and running over - will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."



God's mercy is big mercy. His forgiveness is thorough and purifying. And God has more to give than I can imagine: the earth is the Lord's and everything in it.

He expects me to give like he does. The trouble for me is that I measure my own mercy and forgiveness and giving by standards that are so inadequate - by human standards which are riddled with conditions, with denial, with blame, with pride. My mind is agile and self-protective; it conjures endless reasons for me to limit my forgiveness and my giving.

Too bad. God pours into me what I have poured out to others. If there's no room in me for his gifts he'll just stop pouring. Just as he knows my capacity for his grace and mercy, so too he knows when I am hoarding, when I am grasping, when I am turning selfish. And God loves me far too much to let that go on for long.

Jesus calls me to the path he walks, the path of continual unconditional giving. Walking together he offers me the fruit of the tree of life. When I follow him there is plenty of room in me for that fruit. Only when I follow him.

Lord I don't want to fill up on junk food. I hunger for you, for the fruit of life. Empty me, Lord, so I will reach out every day for what you give.



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