Are You “With Me”?

Posted on May 16, 2021 by Pete

I’ll take lesser known Old Testament characters for 1000, Alex.

This “career exile”, an exile of Gath, chose exile again, this time from Jerusalem, because of his loyalty to a king.

Who is Ittai the Gittite?

Correct!

He didn’t have to go. Though David the king needed to flee Jerusalem because of Absalom’s insurrection, Ittai the Gittite, commander of a troop of 600 from Gath, didn’t have to leave too. David released him. Told him to stay. After all, reasoned the king on the run, Ittai didn’t really have a dog in this fight.

“Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home. You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you.”

(2Samuel 15:19-20 ESV)

Relative newcomers, Ittai & Co. could have chosen to walk under the banner of the same God while serving a different king. But they didn’t. How much Ittai understood the concept of God’s anointed I don’t know, but how much he had come to know, respect, love, and be loyal to David is evident.

But Ittai answered the king, “As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.”

(2Samuel 15:21 ESV)

Ittai’s loyalty to David didn’t demand that the king have a palace or even that he be popular. Ittai didn’t join the parade for his own profit. But he pledged allegiance to David because David was king. Period. For better or worse. ‘Til death do them part.

Makes me think about this foreigner and exile sitting in this chair this morning, one who has also pledged allegiance to a King. Having left the world I was born into, I too have to make the choice to follow a King in exile. One increasingly rejected not just by outsiders, but even by those who think they can bear the banner of God without really acknowledging or following His Anointed. Who are okay with Jesus being their Savior, but not ready to unconditionally own Him as Lord. Okay if it comes with the benefits of ruling over a kingdom, maybe not so much if it means walking in the way of a cross.

I am Ittai. Even as the culture around me becomes increasingly secular, increasingly hostile, and increasingly intolerant of the Rightful Ruler, daily I have a choice to make. Go back and blend in or decide to follow Jesus — even in exile.

Oh, that I would be totally devoted to the King of kings during His rejection.

And by the way, Ittai’s name? It literally means “with me.”

Hear Jesus call, “Are you Ittai?” Are you with me?

Yes, Lord!

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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On Being Cavalier

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Pete

Recently, I have found myself in a few situations where I’ll say something like: Every time you encounter someone else’s sin, don’t examine them with a microscope in order to judge them, but look on them as a mirror reflecting your own propensity to sin and be warned by them. Such is the case as I hover over the story of David and Bathsheba in 2Samuel this morning.

Cavalier. That’s the word that comes to mind. Being indifferent or casual about important matters. Not really caring about something that really should be cared about.

I may not have the autonomy to pick and choose when I go into work or not. I may not have the power to call whomever I wish to fulfill whatever my lustful flesh desires. I may not have the clout to call someone off the front lines so they can sleep with their wife. I may not possess commander-in-chief status so that I can orchestrate the disposal of inconvenient truth through the General of one of my armies. But I can be cavalier.

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

(2Samuel 11:1 ESV)

When kings go out to battle . . . David remained at Jerusalem. When David the king should have been doing what kings do, he didn’t. He called in sick that spring.

How come? I’m wondering if it wasn’t because he felt he had fought his fights, he had run his race and, having made it to the top of the food chain, it was time to coast. Sure, doing battle was important stuff, but not that important — Joab could handle it. Sure, he was to model for the people of God how God’s people should behave. But his press secretary would spin that. When kings go out to battle, David didn’t. That’s where, I think, David’s sin with Bathsheba started. And to quote the old southern gospel song sung by the Cathedral quartet:

Sin will take you farther than you wanna go
Slowly but wholly taking control
Sin will leave you longer than you wanna stay
Sin will cost you far more than you wanna pay

Not caring about stuff that should be cared about, that’s what I need to beware of. Feeling like I’ve put in my time, so let someone else do it. Kidding myself into believing that I’ve attained to whatever degree and so, willing to just let my past accomplishments and momentum carry me. Or, maybe just too tired to try.

But what happens when you stop doing what you should be doing? You start looking around for something else to do. I don’t have a balcony to peer out over lower balconies from, but I have an electronic device and, with the time I’m not doing what I should be doing, I can look at pretty much whatever I want. I may not be able to orchestrate as elaborate a cover-up as David could, but I’m just as capable of sinning in secret. So I say to myself, “Self, be on guard.”

Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (Galatian 6:1b ESV)

We know how the story goes. Though a man dies, and a baby dies, God’s purposes prevail. Though a king sins, because a King died the grace of God puts away all his sin (2Sam. 12:13). And David is restored. David does again what kings should be doing.

So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it.

(2Samuel 12:29 ESV)

Father in heaven, keep me from a cavalier attitude when it comes to walking in the manner worthy of my calling. Convict me quickly when I become casual or indifferent about the kingdom. Protect me from even starting down a path on which I don’t wanna go.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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When Is Not the Will of God the Will of God?

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Pete

Okay, not sure how clear this is going to be, but here’s what I’m chewing on this morning . . .

Started in on Galatians and what initially grabs me and stirs my soul is this:

But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone . . .

(Galatians 1:15-16 ESV)

Paul was set apart before he was born, called by grace, and given eyes to see the risen Savior and a heart to submit to Jesus as the reigning Lord of his life. God set him apart. God called him. God revealed His Son to him. God, God, God. It’s all of God.

I get that. I identify with it. It wasn’t that I sought Him as much as it was He had set me apart. I didn’t reach out to Him apart from Him first calling me. Mine wasn’t a Damascus Road experience, but He nonetheless revealed His Son to me. I get it. I’m in awe of it. I worship afresh as I chew on it.

But then, as I hover over the passage, something else pops from the page that reminds me just how high God’s ways are above my ways.

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.

(Galatians 1:13 ESV)

Why didn’t God reveal His Son to Paul prior to Paul violently persecuting the church? Why wasn’t Paul confronted with irresistible grace before irresistibly going after God’s people? Why allow the sin nature to wreak such havoc before divinely intervening to bring about a new creation in Christ?

Because it was God’s timing? His perfect, pre-determined timing? Because it was God’s will? I’m thinkin’ . . .

But what about all the stuff that happened which we know isn’t in the will of God? Like unfounded executions (Acts 8:1)? Like ravaging the homes of ordinary, defenseless people and dragging men and women off to prison for no other reason than their faithfulness to God (Acts 8:3)? Like constantly threatening God’s people, relentlessly pursuing them in order to put them to death (Acts 9:1)? We know that executing someone without cause is not approved of by God, much less the execution of the righteous. We know that tearing apart the homes of the innocent, unwarranted persecution, and unjust imprisonment isn’t the will of God.

Unless, it would seem, it is. For God, in His perfect timing, called the one He had set apart from before birth and, according to grace alone, revealed His Son to him — timing that was post Paul’s persecution phase of life.

Things that are explicitly forbidden of God yet permitted by God. How many things like that do we encounter in day-to-day life? Not to the extent of persecution and murder, but other stuff, particularly stuff involving and impacting believers. Stuff that you gotta think, if God wanted to, God could “fix it,” or stop it, or miraculously interrupt it with a Damascus Road experience.

And yet, He doesn’t. And so we’re left to figure out how to deal with stuff that we know is not in God’s express will in a way that glorifies God because it would seem to be part of His permissive will. Maybe not so much the will of God, but at the least, the plan of God. Ultimately to accomplish the purposes of God. Purposes which we just can’t see or comprehend in the moment. Like I said, like God said:

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

(Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV)

Walking through the “not the will of God” stuff in a way that still seeks to glorify God — thinking that’s what we’re called to do sometimes.

Trusting God. Firmly convinced that He will work all things together for good (Rom. 8:28).

According to His high and holy thoughts. Through His high and holy ways. In His high and holy and perfect timing.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Examine Yourselves

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Pete

Complex. As I finish my readings in 2Corinthians, that’s my overall impression of this letter — complex. Probably because it deals little with the “simple stuff” of theology and much with the messy stuff of sociology. Less about how God worked redemption among them through Paul’s ministry, and more about the all-over-the-map responses within them to Paul’s ministry. Some even viewing their beloved father in the Lord as a lesser apostle in light of the “super-apostles” who had infiltrated their ranks (2Cor. 11:5, 12:11). In fact, some wanted proof that Christ was speaking through Paul (2Cor. 13:3). But Paul turns the tables on them.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —  unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

(2Corinthians 13:5 ESV)

You wanna know if Christ is really in me? says Paul, then start with some self-examination and first verify that Christ is really in you. Paul was confident that if they were actually “in the faith” then they would recognize that Paul was, in fact, keeping the faith through what he wrote to them.

The big idea I’m taking away this morning? If Christ is really living in us, then it will be seen in the evidential power of Christ living through us. What is theologically true can be empirically tested. What we might be tempted to assume by default can be demonstrably apparent through detection. What we hold to by faith should be manifested in fact.

So, examine yourselves. Put under the microscope of self-assessment your faith, your character, your consistent pursuit of the kingdom. Have a look in the mirror and be honest with what you see.

Test yourselves. Prove you’re the real meal deal as a metallurgist proves the quality of the fine metals he tests. Scrutinize your talk and your walk. Through articulation give attestation of how you know your faith is genuine.

Not that their testing had to reveal a level of perfection. Rather, that their proving produced evidence of a living connection. That they were truly abiding in Christ because Christ was demonstrably abiding in them.

Apparent in their character. More like humble servants than boastful consumers. Apparent in their compassion. Tenderhearted not testy and harsh. Apparent in their engagement. Actively involved in building up the body and not just tearing it down. Contributing and not just criticizing.

Apparent in how well they knew a well-worn path to the cross. Frequent flyers in confessing the weakness of the flesh. Quick to repent because of their sensitivity to sin, as the light of Christ in them worked to drive out the remaining darkness within them. Active participants in sanctification as they anticipated glorification.

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

(Psalm 139:23-24 ESV)

Jesus Christ is in you! Amazing!

Examine yourselves. Be validating.

For self-correction. For self-encouragement.

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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A Beautiful Thing

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Pete

Apparently, there is good and then there is good! There is commendable or suitable and then there is most excellent and surpassing. There is praiseworthy and then there is precious. There is useful and then there is magnificent. There is a befitting thing and then there is a beautiful thing.

And while [Jesus] was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over His head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for burial.”

(Mark 14:3-8 ESV)

I paused at this passage this morning because I always pause here. Whether it’s this account in Mark, or the parallel accounts in Matthew (26:6-13) or John (12:2-8), I can’t help but marvel afresh every time I encounter this act of such extravagant worship.

The whole scene is mind-blowing. Jesus is in the house of a leper for dinner. The “woman” of Mark’s and Matthew’s account is identified as Mary in John’s account. Mary as in Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany. Lazarus, Mary’s brother, is doing what no one ever imagined he’d be doing, living. Martha, Mary’s sister, is doing what Martha always does, serving. And Mary? Well, Mary is doing what Mary does best. She is at Jesus’ feet and causing a stink again — literally! (Lk. 10:38-42)

So, I’m hovering over this passage and what sticks out is that she has done a beautiful thing. But only the ESV and NIV render it this way. For the CSB it’s “a noble thing.” For the other standard translations it’s “a good thing.”

Okay, for me there’s a difference between a good thing and a beautiful thing. But apparently in the ancient Greek language it can be the same thing.

So what’s the x-factor that distinguishes good works from beautiful works (Mt. 5:16). That makes good fruit beautiful fruit (Mt. 7:17). That makes a “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over” (Lk. 6:38) a beautiful measure (Lk. 6:38). Thinking maybe it goes from being just a good deed to a beautiful deed when it’s poured out for Jesus by faith.

She was anointing Him for His burial. That Jesus would die didn’t make any sense to her. Not from a theological point of view — she had been looking for a conquering Messiah. Not from a sentimental point of view — she had sat at His feet and been moved in the depths of her soul by His teaching. Not from a logical point of view — this is the One who had raised her brother from the dead, and now He was going to die? Nope. Didn’t compute. Yet she anointed Him for His burial.

Not that she was conceding death would win, but that she was believing that Jesus was who He said He was, “the resurrection and the life” (Jn. 11:25).

Jesus. Believing Jesus. Obeying Jesus. Loving Jesus. Exalting Jesus. Isn’t Jesus what makes a good thing a beautiful thing? I’m thinkin’ . . .

By His grace. For His glory.

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Deja Vu All Over Again

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Pete

His disciples wanted to know when it would happen. They wanted to know what would be the signs. But, if I’m picking up what Jesus has been laying down in Mark 13, He wanted them to be more concerned with how they should prepare.

“And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:37 ESV)

Last night’s conversation was kind of deja vu all over again (Thanx Yogi Berra). Getting older has a way of making that happen. I was saved in late 70’s and one of the most popular books at that time was “Late Great Planet Earth”, a step by step mapping of the imagery of Revelation into the actuality of our “modern times.” It made the apocalypse fertile ground for speculation. Technology which was, at best, sci-fi in the 50’s was now present in the late 70’s and 80’s in a way that trumpets sounded and bowls poured out in Revelation were being mapped to realities experienced. This is it! We’re in the end times!

Now, in the 2020’s I hear the same conversations increasingly. Technology today makes the 70’s pale in comparison. The physical dynamics and logistics required for one government world control are so much more apparent. The groundwork and infrastructure for all to be deceived and follow a lie now resides on a little device most of us carry in our purses and pockets. No, this is it! We’re in the end times of the end times!

And, to be sure, we are. Our final redemption certainly is nearer than when we first believed (Rom. 13:11). But not so we can speculate, opinionate, debate, and separate. Nope! It’s so we might stay wake.

You can’t miss the repetition and progression in Mark 13. “But be on your guard” (13:9) . . . “But be on guard” (13:23) . . . “Be on guard, keep awake” (13:32) . . . “Therefore stay awake” (13:35) . . . “Stay awake” (13:37). Three “be on guard”s. Three “stay awake”s. So whaddya think we should be doing?

Be on guard. Take heed, says the NKJV. Watch! Be alert! That’s how the CSB puts it. Behold what’s going on. Have the presence of mind to see the pieces in play. Discern the times. But not for the purposes of trying to figure out when. Not to engage in trivial exercises of mapping imagery to actuality. But so you’ll stay awake.

Stay awake. Be alert (CSB). Keep watch (NIV). Jesus is coming on a day and at an hour which “no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (13:32). So, says Jesus, be ready.

When the Son returns He wants to find faith in action (Lk. 18:8). He wants to walk in on His servants busy doing the work He’s asked them to do (Mt. 24:45-46). He doesn’t want to find them snoozin’ at the wheel or distracted and entangled by things of this world. He wants kingdom people who are actively anticipating the kingdom and engaged with kingdom work. So stay awake.

It’s not about figuring out exactly the when. Not about matching up all the pieces of the what. It’s about the how of waiting. About being awake. Ready to see Him. Active to please Him.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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The Yoked-to-Provoked Connection

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Pete

Hovering over Psalm 106 this morning and a well known quote comes to mind from Ralph Waldo Emerson (technically, a well known quote comes to mind and I have to Google it to find it was by Emerson).

“Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”

Psalm 106 sparked the memory of that quote not because it enforces it, but because it presents a Mr. Hyde antithesis to Emerson’s Dr. Jekyll truism. Psalm 106 is an anti-progression of Emerson’s thought-to-destiny connection. As the songwriter recounts his people’s history, he spends a fair amount of time on the yoked-to-provoked connection.

Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

(Psalm 106:28-29 ESV)

The psalmist expands on this later in the song:

They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them . . . they mixed with the nations . . . They served their idols . . . They sacrificed their sons and their daughters . . . they became unclean by their acts . . . Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people . . .

(Psalm 106:34-40 ESV)

They yoked and they provoked. Disobedience in the beginning led to destructive behavior later on. Sowing seeds of idolatry eventually resulted in the soiling of their character. Being yoked to the ways of the world around them ultimately provoked the God of heaven above them.

Oh, thank God for the cross! Praise Him for the well-worn path to Calvary where we trek, again and again, to confess our sins knowing He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn. 1:9). It is not kindling God’s anger we fear as much as it is breaking His heart. Not that we won’t discipline those He loves, He will. But less than fear of discipline, it’s fear of disappointing our loving, gracious Father who loved us to the point of giving His Son for us.

So, I note that it can start with seemingly small things. Less about rejecting God outright and more about giving the world an invite. Not about removing the way of Christ but about adding the way of the world.

Sow a yoking, and you reap an idol; sow an idol and reap disobedience, sow disobedience and you reap destruction, sow destruction and reap discipline.

Or something like that. I’m no Emerson.

Maybe leaving it to the Scriptures to summarize is a better approach:

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

(James 1:14-15 ESV)

Oh, to be faithful in the small things and on guard against our own desires. To value, as much as lies in me, fidelity to the Savior and His words, over the “it’s no big deal” claims of the world and their alluring call. To believe that an unhealthy yoking can lead to an unwanted provoking. And then to flee from temptation and cling to the the truth.

Possible by the grace of God. Desirable for the glory of God.

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The Presentation

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Pete

I’ve got a road trip to take this morning so limited time for noodling and note-taking. Captured again by Paul’s divine jealousy in my 2Corinthians 11 reading. Thought I’d go back in the archives and pull out something to post. Came across a short post from May 2017, a few months after my wife had gone home to be with the Lord. Hit me like a ton of bricks. True then. True now. While there is so much to consume me in the present, how I need to never lose site of the presentation.

Here’s that short thought . . .

This morning I’m hovering over the first few verses of 2Corinthians 11. Over the years, it’s been a common place to pause after my daily readings and noodle on Paul’s “divine jealousy” for the somewhat dysfunctional church at Corinth. But this morning, given where my heads at, my thoughts are less about Paul’s intense desire that those He brought to Christ should determine to live with “a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (11:3b), but that, ultimately, the goal of the betrothal is the presentation.

I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

(2Corinthians 11:2 ESV)

Paul was the matchmaker. These Corinthians the bride. And the end game, their presentation to Christ.

And as one betrothed yet not presented, I realize how easy it is to become attached to being engaged and how hard it is when others go on before us.

But as I savor Paul’s heart for the Corinthians, I’m reminded that it really is about going home. That the calling we seek to live out here and now is not the end game, but simply the road to be traveled. That, as good as sensing the presence of God by the Spirit of God is, it will pale in comparison to being in the presence of God and looking upon the face of His precious Son. That while we can, by faith, taste and see that the Lord is good today, there is coming a day when we will feast at His table.

Sue has been presented. I am still betrothed. Hers is to rejoice. Mine is to remain.

. . . to keep on keeping on.

By His grace . . . for His glory.

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A People Watcher

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Pete

Ask me what Jesus did in the temple and my immediate answer would be that He cleaned house, overturning tables, shutting down commerce, and evicting money changers (Mk. 11:15). Ask me, what else? And if I thought about it long enough, I might remember that He also taught in the temple. But that He sometimes was also in the temple just people watching? Nope, don’t think I would have come up with that. But He did.

And He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box.

(Mark 12:41a ESV)

Jesus sat down and watched the people. Jesus was/is a people watcher. That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Somehow the Teacher got a break from teaching. A few moments when, rather than be surrounded by the crowd, He could sit off to the side and watch the crowd. Jesus, out of the spotlight, yet not out of the picture. Not commanding the center of attention, yet never ceasing to give attention to what was happening on the fringes.

I’ve done some people watching in my time. Not much in these “order from Amazon” days, but, in the days when the mall was the primary venue for merchandising, I occupied a bench on more than one occasion (usually because I was waiting on someone else to finish their shopping) and just sat and watched crowds go by and individuals interact. They did their thing unmindful of my watchful eye. No reason to be mindful of me, I was just a guy sitting on a bench.

But Jesus wasn’t just some guy sitting down opposite the treasury. He was the Son of God cloaked in flesh. The Word who created all things watching all the things He had created. Not just sitting there with little concern or thought for others, but the Omniscient One aware of all other’s thoughts. Off to the side, yet in the middle of everything.

That’s why He noticed her. The poor widow dropping her two small coins in the offering box. And why He knew that she had given “out of her poverty” and had “put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (Mk. 12:44b). She didn’t do it to be seen by anyone else, yet she was. Nobody appreciated the sacrifice she was making through the common act of tithing. But He did. She was invisible to everyone else. But not to Jesus.

Jesus, God fully God, is a people watcher.

For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all his paths.

(Proverbs 5:21 ESV)

You show steadfast love to thousands, but You repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

(Jeremiah 32:18-19 ESV)

And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

(Hebrews 4:13 ESV)

He is a people watcher. Thinking that’s a good thing to keep in mind. Not for fear, but to be faithful. Not to perform, but to rest in that He is ever present.

His eyes ever seeing. His grace always sufficient. His glory the only goal.

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A Double Harvest

Posted on May 3, 2021 by Pete

Sometimes you have to hover over a passage for an extended time to figure out why it’s there. Sometimes you really need to chew on the words, verses, and paragraphs to figure out the point. Other times? No so much.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

(2Corinthians 9:6 ESV)

Sow bountifully! That’s the point. Talk about a gimme! The law of the harvest should govern more than our gardens, it should govern our generosity.

What’s more, in this section of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, where he’s encouraging the saints to make good on their intention to send a gift to hard-pressed believers in Jerusalem, he wants them to understand the connection between God’s grace in meeting their needs and their generosity towards helping out with the needs of others.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. . . . He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way . . .

(2Corinthians 9:8, 10-11a ESV)

Grace abounds, good works should abound. Enriched in every way, generous in every way. Affluent by God’s sovereign determination, ready to spread the wealth according to God’s providential direction. God’s graced people should be God’s generous people.

But what also grabs me is that sowing bountifully provides a double harvest.

For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others . . .

(2Corinthians 9:12-13 ESV)

Not only does generosity seed a harvest of blessing for others through our good works, it also overflows as a harvest of thanksgiving from others for God’s glory. We freely give of what we’ve undeservedly been freely given, and God is rightfully given what he is rightfully owed, worship.

A double harvest. Our giving, our generosity, while a blessing to others, also produces the fruit of others blessing God.

So, sow bountifully. For others good, for God’s glory. Thanksgiving overflowing, because of grace abounding.

God’s grace. God’s glory.

That’s the point.

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