“You will be made rich in every way so that you may be generous in every way, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. ”
2 Corinthians 9:8–11
“God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will overflow in every good work. As it is written: He scattered; he gave to the poor.His righteousness remains forever.
And he who provides seed to the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed for sowing, and will increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you may be generous in every way, which produces thanksgiving to God through us”
In this chapter Paul is writing to the Christian living in the Greek city of Corinth. In the verses just before this verses, he had just encouraged the Corinthians to be generous in their giving, supporting the work of the church and their fellow Christians. But where would they get the resources to do that kind of giving? Why would they want to do it?
Paul says, “God is able to make all grace overflow to you. “In all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will overflow in every good work.” All, all, all, every. Paul is very all inclusive here. When God is involved, there is nothing lacking. Everything we need is here and provided.
Consider this past week or month or year. How many times were you hungry? Not the kind of hungry that says it’s almost time to eat, but the hungry that says, “I wish I had food but there is none. I’ll just go to sleep and hope for the best in the morning.” How many of us found ourselves with nothing to wear—not because we hadn’t done laundry but because our last pieces of clothing were ruined and unwearable? How many of us slept under the stars, not because we chose to go camping or rough it for a few days, but because we had no access to a roof to put over our head? All things, all times, having all that you need…
God provides. He provides through our families. He provides through people who care about us. He provides through our hard work and skills. He ensures that we have what we need, even if it means working a miracle to feed a crowd of thousands with a small lunch. God has the power, the will, and the follow-through to make sure we are well taken care of, having everything that we need for our bodies and life.
But that doesn’t even touch the real overflow of God’s undeserved love for us, does it? Why do we call God’s love undeserved in the first place? What makes it that God technically shouldn’tlove us? It’s that we have sinned against him. God demands perfection from us and we have been far from perfect. Even one sin means that God should turn his back on us, and yet we sin a countless ways each and every day. We are unkind to the people in our lives. We leave good things that we should do undone. We think horrid thoughts against other people. We prioritize other things in our lives over God and his Word. On our own, we could not be more the opposite of what God expects that we are.
God is able to make all grace overflow to you.
God opened the floodgates of his grace when he sent his Son, Jesus. Jesus was the fulfillment of every saving promise that God had made to his people throughout history. Jesus, being both God and man, was able to take the full debt and weight of our sins on his shoulders and take it all away.
How do you respond to something like that?How do you show your thanks to God? By being generous with what he has given you. Do you have food to spare in your home? Share it with those who have less! Do you have financial resources beyond what you need? Share them with those who have less!
Maybe today is a good time to take stock of your generosity. How overflowing is your thankful generosity to others?
You can find ways and organizations that will do well with your resources, who will get them to people who are truly in need. Help your family and your friends, your coworkers and your fellow Christians at church. In doing so, you also become the way that God provides daily bread for others.
But you have a treasure worth far more than any amount of food or clothing or even piles of money. You have the gospel. You have the assurance of God’s overflowing grace. You have all that you need for eternity. And that, too, is something you can share. You can invite someone to church. You can give them a basic summary about Jesus. You can share this overflowing grace with others.
There are a myriad of ways that you can help support the work that we do together as the body of Christ, not to build ourselves up but to share this overflowing love of God with a world that desperately needs to hear it. We have a God who has provided for us everything that we could possibly need, both in our physical lives and in our eternal lives. May God bless your overflowing thanksgiving, your generosity to all, as you seek to thank your Savior who has given himself for you! AMEN!
-by Jack Nerrickson, Give Amore Staffer (who wants to be a Pastor!)
