Tuesday morning,
my wife was checking her Facebook page and came across a video of four college-age people which reminded me of some incredible words from Jesus found in the Book of Acts 20:35—”…the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”
In the video, the friends had ordered a pizza to be delivered and set up their kitchen counter with twelve plastic cups, each with a different amount of money underneath, varying from $1.00 to $100.00. When the delivery guy arrived with their pizza, they asked him to come to the kitchen for his money and then they explained that he could turn over six cups and whatever amount of money he uncovered was his to keep. He uncovered a couple $20’s as well as other amounts, on the fifth cup he uncovered a $100.00 bill. At this point, he started to cry and could not believe they were so kind and generous. When he was ready to leave they invited him back to turn the other six cups over and keep all the money.
It was awesome to watch his reaction, but what was even more amazing to me was how the four college-age friends (two girls and two guys) reacted. With each cup turned over, they clapped and cheered for the pizza guy to turn over more cups and get more money. At one point, when he emotionally said “thank you,” one of the girls replied, “You’re welcome, but we are so blessed to be able to do this.”
That’s when the words of Jesus came to mind—“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” I think, generally speaking, you realize this the older you get—but not with these young college-age people. They got it. The pizza guy was generously blessed but the friends were “exceedingly and abundantly” blessed.
Yvonne and I celebrated our 51st Anniversary on April 26. It was toward the beginning of COVID-19 so we couldn’t go away and couldn’t go out to dinner, but we wanted to celebrate. We asked God for a way to do that. He led us to take $102.00 ($51.00 for each of us) then go to several drive-thru food establishments and pay for the people behind us. Yvonne was a little hesitant at first but the more people we paid for the more excited she got and the more blessed we each were. God gave us a way to really celebrate our anniversary with others and celebrate His incredible goodness to us. Once again, He confirmed that the words of Jesus are absolutely true—“it is more blessed to give than to receive.” If you want to have some fun, give something away. It could be money or something else that has value. Give it away and you will be “blessed.”
Remember these takeaways:
1. When you ask God for ways to do something (like how to celebrate an anniversary) He answers.
2. Jesus knew what He was talking about when He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Then He showed it by dying to purchase my eternal salvation and forgive my sin.
3. We need to be like Jesus and be generous givers (like those four college-age friends). I want to encourage you to give something away. Remember, Jesus promised that you will be “blessed”.
Grateful for you,
Pastor Bryan