Getting Back More Than You Give
This is a daily meditation from Forward Day by Day, and I know what you are going to say – you are going to read this and say “but she only got back $10; she got exactly what she gave.”
You would be wrong. She also got the joy of giving sacrificially, giving all she had. She didn’t know she was going to get anything back. She got the feeling of doing the right thing.
You give more, you get more. There are so many things that money cannot buy, peaceful sleep, loving family, faraway friends who call you out of the blue because they are thinking of you . . . the Lord blesses a cheerful giver 🙂
FRIDAY, January 31
John 6:6. Jesus said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
Sue’s young daughter barely got her offering in the collection plate in time. It was her entire allowance of $10. She’d given the money, she said, because she felt God called her to give all she had. But before the young girl could even take her seat, someone in the row behind gave her a folded $10 bill. Obedience had been rewarded.
Like Sue’s daughter, we are prompted to do things that might challenge our comfort zone. It could be the nudging to give more than we think we can afford, or to take on a task we are uncertain we can accomplish, or to provide a sacrificial act of grace or kindness for the sake of another. God often calls us to give beyond what we can see and reason, whether time, talent, or treasure. Perhaps then we can better see how much God can make of our little.
Jesus’ feeding of the multitude, told in the gospel we read today, did not depend on the disciples having enough food but on their willingness to bring what they had to him so he could increase it. As they served the food, the supplies grew until there was enough to satisfy the hungry crowd with leftovers. Our willingness to give always results in food that keeps on feeding.
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Is passing the donation plate in church a Catholic thing or do all churches do it?
Before the oil days ,people used to collect money for building mosques ,some families who were rich built their them on their own expense . When the oil revenues came in the hand of the states , Gulf region or North Africa , the state took over that function . However in the less rich Arab countries I think it is still done by donations of the local people.
The plate – or basket – is passed, I believe, in every church. In some churches, I’ve seen it passed more than once. In every church I have attended, people make a yearly pledge of X amount every week, or month, or year for a yearly total of X x increment. It pays the church bills, allows us to be kept cool in the heat of summer, warm in the ice storm of winter :-). A portion is also sent to the larger church for its work.
We also take extra offerings four to six times a year for the poor, and our congregation is very generous. We have two food drives, and provide over 1,000 lbs a year to those who struggle on minimal salaries or who are unemployed. We are Santa to around 100 children every year, buying clothing, toys and bicycles for children who otherwise might have nothing. We have an annual drive helping women who have fought drug addiction and are successfully in rehabilitation . . .
Come visit one day, Daggero. Come and see.
Intlxpatr ;
God bless you and your congregation for all the kind and charitable work you are doing .
Imagine being Santa to a Hundred kids . Well done and keep up the Good work .Maybe one day i will get a chance to come over and see all the fine work you all doing.