"Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom." Luke 6:38
Good morning, dear friends!
I love to cook. It didn't start out that way here in France, because I grew up as a grab-a-box-and-open-a-can kind of cook from the U.S. I didn't really start to cook until I moved here, and under the wonderful tutorage of my mother-in-love, learned how much fun cooking from scratch could actually be.
There's just one problem.
I am not a measuring cook. I am a pinch and dash cooker. It's fun to cook that way, until someone asks me for the recipe for something. Then, I realize that I am not very helpful.
The French have a funny expression for "pinch and dash" cooking. Litterally, you cook through your nose. I guess instead of following a recipe, you follow your nose.
So, how exactly do you measure a pinch, a dash, or through your nose? How much is that anyway?
Well, I guess it just depends on the cook. Each cook has his own secret recipe, his own imprecise measurements, and his own yummy results.
Easter Sunday is coming up this week, and I have been thinking much about God's amazing gift of His Son for me. God loves perfectly, and so He gives perfectly. His greatest gift met my greatest need, and surpassed it, so that my sins were completely removed from my account, placed on Jesus, and then erased forever.
His gift was a costly one, but He did not give sparingly. Jesus gave Himself willingly, completely, so that I could enjoy the blessings from my Father's hand.
How can one measure such an amazing gift?
I have always loved the verse at the top of this blog. It does not read like a mathematical equation, but rather a recipe from a cook who knows the ingredients, and just the right amounts to give. Here are some thoughts about Luke 6:38:
1. I should give! Matthew 10:8 reminds me that I should not withhold my giving to others: "freely ye have received, freely give."
2. I should not wait for others to give, and then give in response to their giving. I give freely, and then trust God to take care of my needs.
3. I can never outgive God. God will always provide abundantly more than I could ever dream of, if I am willing first to obey His Word, and give.
How much is a "good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over?" It reminds me of helping my mom with the summer canning every year when I was growing up. She would can peaches when they became available each year. My mom did the prep work to get them ready for the jars, and my job was to pack the jars. I would use the funnel and get as many peach slices as I could into the jar, and then I'd proudly exclaim to my mom (probably because I wanted to be finished with the task), "Done!"
My mom would shake her head. I couldn't understand what I had done wrong. She said, "You have to pick it up and shake it." I would cover the top of the jar, pick it up, and shake it as hard as I could, and when I set the jar down, there was always extra room at the top. Then I would pack it as full as I could without destroying the peaches. Sometimes my mom would still shake it after I was done packing, and there would still be room.
After the jars of peaches went into the canner, and were done being processed, I would be amazed to see that there would still be space in the jar, after the peaches floated to the top! What was so full to me, still had lots of room, even after we were done shaking it all together. In order for me to fill up that jar completely, it would have had to be "running over," before we put the top on.
Don't ask me how many peaches that is. Even my mom didn't know how many it would take. We just kept adding, until there was no more room to us, when in reality we could have kept going. There was always more room, even when we thought it was full.
That is how I am to give, and that is how God gives in return. I don't count, or try to measure the amount. I just keep giving, and God always gives more.
That is a giving that cannot be measured. I can't even try.
May I be willing to give, and allow myself to be used to bless someone else today.
I know that God will do His part, if only I would just do mine.
I love to cook. It didn't start out that way here in France, because I grew up as a grab-a-box-and-open-a-can kind of cook from the U.S. I didn't really start to cook until I moved here, and under the wonderful tutorage of my mother-in-love, learned how much fun cooking from scratch could actually be.
There's just one problem.
I am not a measuring cook. I am a pinch and dash cooker. It's fun to cook that way, until someone asks me for the recipe for something. Then, I realize that I am not very helpful.
The French have a funny expression for "pinch and dash" cooking. Litterally, you cook through your nose. I guess instead of following a recipe, you follow your nose.
So, how exactly do you measure a pinch, a dash, or through your nose? How much is that anyway?
Well, I guess it just depends on the cook. Each cook has his own secret recipe, his own imprecise measurements, and his own yummy results.
Easter Sunday is coming up this week, and I have been thinking much about God's amazing gift of His Son for me. God loves perfectly, and so He gives perfectly. His greatest gift met my greatest need, and surpassed it, so that my sins were completely removed from my account, placed on Jesus, and then erased forever.
His gift was a costly one, but He did not give sparingly. Jesus gave Himself willingly, completely, so that I could enjoy the blessings from my Father's hand.
How can one measure such an amazing gift?
I have always loved the verse at the top of this blog. It does not read like a mathematical equation, but rather a recipe from a cook who knows the ingredients, and just the right amounts to give. Here are some thoughts about Luke 6:38:
1. I should give! Matthew 10:8 reminds me that I should not withhold my giving to others: "freely ye have received, freely give."
2. I should not wait for others to give, and then give in response to their giving. I give freely, and then trust God to take care of my needs.
3. I can never outgive God. God will always provide abundantly more than I could ever dream of, if I am willing first to obey His Word, and give.
How much is a "good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over?" It reminds me of helping my mom with the summer canning every year when I was growing up. She would can peaches when they became available each year. My mom did the prep work to get them ready for the jars, and my job was to pack the jars. I would use the funnel and get as many peach slices as I could into the jar, and then I'd proudly exclaim to my mom (probably because I wanted to be finished with the task), "Done!"
My mom would shake her head. I couldn't understand what I had done wrong. She said, "You have to pick it up and shake it." I would cover the top of the jar, pick it up, and shake it as hard as I could, and when I set the jar down, there was always extra room at the top. Then I would pack it as full as I could without destroying the peaches. Sometimes my mom would still shake it after I was done packing, and there would still be room.
After the jars of peaches went into the canner, and were done being processed, I would be amazed to see that there would still be space in the jar, after the peaches floated to the top! What was so full to me, still had lots of room, even after we were done shaking it all together. In order for me to fill up that jar completely, it would have had to be "running over," before we put the top on.
Don't ask me how many peaches that is. Even my mom didn't know how many it would take. We just kept adding, until there was no more room to us, when in reality we could have kept going. There was always more room, even when we thought it was full.
That is how I am to give, and that is how God gives in return. I don't count, or try to measure the amount. I just keep giving, and God always gives more.
That is a giving that cannot be measured. I can't even try.
May I be willing to give, and allow myself to be used to bless someone else today.
I know that God will do His part, if only I would just do mine.
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