Daily Devotions
Some years ago I had the pleasure of watching about a hundred Vietnamese refugees learn about the concept of a “silent auction.” One of the families in our church had been burnt out of their apartment, losing everything, and we were raising money for them. There were the usual cheap items for people to bid on—a set of glasses, some mugs, a calculator, some plates …
What astonished me was seeing how eagerly they took to the idea. They really got into it! Someone put fifty dollars down on the dime store glasses. Someone else put forty on the calculator. As soon as all the donated objects were gone, they started scrounging around for other things to bid on, just to keep the auction going. Someone bid 200 dollars just to hear our mission exec sing “Jesus Loves Me”!
It was clear that they’d grasped the most important point—that what we were doing was an act of love, and it was a privilege and an honor to be allowed to be part of it. Even though by all worldly standards they were poor, “their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty … overflowed in a wealth of generosity” toward the family in need. They gave from their hearts; and by watching them I saw a reflection of the overwhelming generosity God shows us in Jesus.
Because when it comes to giving, it isn’t our money that God needs; after all, God says, “Every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). God could provide for human need out of His own creative power; but He gives us the honor of being involved for love’s sake, and to let us share in His own joy. This is the joy Paul spoke of when he said that “you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Nobody forced Jesus to give Himself for us; He went to the cross of His own free choice, because He loves us. And now that He has risen from the dead, He rejoices to give us every good thing we need, including eternal life—starting now.
WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, help me to give myself joyfully the way You have given Yourself for me. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. At this stage of your life, how are you most likely to give—through effort? money? objects? time?
2. When has God used someone else to provide for your needs?
3. When have you had the privilege of providing for someone else?