GIVE AND IT WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU

Proclamation:

“Give, and it will be given to you … For the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Luke 6:38 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which He spoke during His Sermon on The Mount as recorded under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Luke, the physician and frequent traveling companion of the Apostle Paul.  Jesus told them that as they gave to others, it would be given to them the same way.  They would receive a good measure, “… pressed down, shaken together and running over …”  A heaping measure, as much as the measuring cup could hold, would be given to them if they were equally generous to the indigent people in need.  If they were not generous with others, then The Lord God would not be generous with them.

Application:

Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35)  It is good to be blessed, but it is even better to be a blessing to others.  Giving someone money is not the only way that we can bless them.  As the saying goes, giving a hungry man some food is a blessing to him, but teaching him how to fish and cook it can bless him for the rest of his life.  If you want to receive more blessings, try giving more blessings to others.  Be a blessing to someone and you will receive a blessing.  All that we have received was not meant for us to keep for ourselves, some of it was for us to share with others.  Remember what The Bible says about the rich man and Lazarus, the beggar who sat outside of the rich man’s gate. (Luke 16:19-31)  Apart from our money, most of us place too much importance upon our words.  We think that what we have to say is a blessing to those that hear it.  While it is possible to bless someone by what we say, what we do for them is usually much more of a blessing than what we say to them.  Our actions speak much louder than our words.  That which we have but are not using could be a blessing to others.  The time spent caring for others, visiting the sick or the incarcerated, could be a blessing to them.  The Apostle Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you.” (Acts 3:6)  However, if you do have silver or gold or money, it is okay to share that also.  When we give to the less fortunate, we are lending it to The Lord God, and He will repay us. (Proverbs 19:17)  "Give, and it shall be given unto you..." (Luke 6:38)