Spent the weekend with my folks on Lake Conroe. As is customary for our trips there, we went to Mass at their church, St. Mary's of Huntersville. The guest Priest spoke of Elijah and the widow. Elijah came upon a widow collecting sticks and asked her for some water and something to eat. She conveyed that she only had a handful of flour and very little oil, only enough for she and her son. In essence, he conveyed what Jesus would later convey: give (provide for Elijah's needs) and God would bless that faith in His promises to take care of her needs. Cutting to the chase, she did, baking Elijah a small cake of bread using the last of what she had. And as a result of her faith, she had enough flour and oil for she and her son for the next year.
Much much later (from our temporal perspective), Jesus spoke of the woman at the Temple who gave her last two remaining shekels, a tiny fraction of what the Pharisees gave. Jesus said, she gave FAR more. How is that? She gave more because they gave from their surplus, which really didn't hurt much. She, on the other hand, gave all she had.
She gave all she had.
How do you give? Your money, your time, your talent ... how do you give of any of it? With caution, with reserve, careful not to give too much so you remain comfortable and seemingly secure? Or with real trust in God's promises? Throwing worldly caution to the wind? Unreservedly? Carelessly (from the world's perspective)?
Every blessing we have is 100% His. He's giving it to us to use, not to keep.
Do you believe that? Remember, faith without action shows your TRUE heart.
As it says in Matthew 7:16, "You will know them by their fruits." Let your tree of faith blossom, then watch what God does with that faith.
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