A while back a friend referred to God as being generous, and I was struck by the fact that I found it hard to embrace this description of God. Looking around at the poverty and at so many struggling with finances, I realised that I did not really believe that God is generous.
I have recently read Is God to Blame by Gregory Boyd where he challenges us to understand and know God only through Jesus, and not let experiences we have in life define God. So I asked God to show His generosity to me through Jesus and was led to the story of the loaves and fishes in Matthew 14.
You know how the story goes, Jesus multiplies two fishes and five loaves to feed a crowd of thousands. What hit me as I read it this time was that there were 12 baskets full of food left over – God provided more than enough. So those 12 baskets are for me a visual image to remind me of God’s generosity.
One of the other mom’s at our gathering shared that she always thinks about her own father's words when he responded to her request for financial help during her poorer student days. He reminded her of what Jesus said: “which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?” Matt 7 verse 9-11
What is your image of God’s generosity?
Understanding God’s generosity is an important step towards being freed to be generous, and to share with our children how they too can be generous.
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