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Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)

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Sometime last month, I mentioned how our youth group was looking at and hopefully practicing some Spiritual Disciplines this year as a way of remaining more tangibly grounded in our relationship with God and one another.\xa0 The youth met again yesterday to talk about the next discipline in their list: the discipline of Generosity (click/tap here for more resources).

It\u2019s a pretty core action of our Christian lives.\xa0 That\u2019s because it\u2019s a pretty core action of God Himself, even from the very beginning.\xa0

Think of it: God\u2019s act of Creation was no stingy endeavour.\xa0 Waters were teaming, the earth was crawling, and \u201cfill\u201d and \u201cincrease\u201d were the commands given.\xa0 God not only gave life, but he also gave the means of reproducing life\u2014seeds\u2014so that life would continue for generations to come.\xa0 It was a good creation\u2014overflowing and abundant.\xa0

Now we live in a fallen creation though, a fact that\u2019s hard to escape during these pandemic days.\xa0 Resources of health, money, time, and patience seem scarce, more so than they used to be.\xa0 Even so, God\u2019s generosity has never ceased.\xa0 So powerful was Jesus\u2019 act of generosity in offering his very self for us, that it began to undo to the curse of sin and death in this world.\xa0

Through Him, God\u2019s power has begun re-creating abundance where sin had made scarcity.\xa0 Re-making lives, where sin had brought death.\xa0 Restoring people like you and me where chaos and crisis leave ruins.\xa0

We are called to be like Him and join this work by giving generously as our God has\u2014to focus our eyes, not on the limitations of our world or of our own stock of seeds, but on His rich abundance and hilarious generosity that is always more than our own.\xa0

In this way, we don\u2019t look to the limited seeds in our own hands for our security or well-being, we\u2019re called to focus instead on the one who supplies the seeds.\xa0 God\u2019s storehouse is stocked.\xa0 Against all the droughts, storms, and even pandemics of this fallen world: God always has more provision, more love, and more grace to give, even when we\u2019ve run out.

It\u2019s a call to trust in God, and then, to sow generously.\xa0 Giving of ourselves, our time and our treasures for the sake of the kingdom, living with open hands: receiving with thanks, giving with joy.\xa0

Paul encourages us, you reap what you sow\u2014so why not sow generously?\xa0

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