Read through 2 Corinthians 9 today, and I dare you to find someone who is a better giver than our God.
I can’t help but compare the way that I give, love and serve to the way that God gives, loves and serves after reading 2 Corinthians 9 today. Perhaps you did the same as you read through this chapter. The Message version puts 2 Corinthians 9:8-11 in terms that resonate a lot with me:
God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,
He throws caution to the winds,
giving to the needy in reckless abandon.
His right-living, right-giving ways
never run out, never wear out.This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.
One of the things that strikes me most about this chapter of Scripture is something that’s mentioned in the last part of the section above. The verse says that what God gives us is something that we can also turn around and give away… how amazing is that? To me, this means that God is such an extravagant giver that He gives us enough for us to be able to be provided for and to STILL give to others out of that overflow.
I’ve seen this play out in my own life on a daily basis, noticing that when I consistently take time to be with the Lord in the morning before my day even starts, I am much more filled up and ready to give to others throughout the day. I try to remind myself that you can’t pour from an empty cup, and that phrase reminds me of 2 Corinthians 9. If we aren’t being filled with the Holy Spirit regularly, God cannot give to us what we need for that day, and in turn, we can’t give out of that overflow to others.
Since we serve a God Who is such an extravagant giver and Who WANTS to give to us abundantly and supply each of our needs, let us remember to we need to do our part and ACCEPT those incredible gifts each day. My hope is that through doing so, we too will become extravagant givers, servants to, and lovers of those God puts in our paths every single day.