Just a Nickle January 11, 2016

³⁸ "give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”  Luke 6:38 ESV

Saturday I had a meeting downtown so I stopped by the Mudhouse for a pre-meeting cup of coffee and quick review of the material.  On the floor by the counter I found two dimes.  Rather than putting the 20 cents in my pocket, I placed the change in the tip jar by the counter.  After ordering my coffee, I realized I had left my reading material in the car so I went outside to get it.  As I was unlocking the car, I noticed a shiny quarter lying on pavement.  I picked it up and did put in my pocket.  

Financial windfall?  Hardly.  Illustration of a spiritual truth.  Definitely.

Of course the question remains, "would the quarter still have been by my car if I had not placed the two dimes in the tip jar?"  We'll never know, but what I do know is that I gave up 20 and received 25, a 25% return on my money.  There is not a financial adviser around would not shout from the mountaintops about a 25% return on an investment.

This is a small illustration of what God promises about our giving--if we give with a cheerful heart, it will be returned to us.  Most often the return will not be as immediate or perhaps not in kind, but God promises "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over" returns.

That return for faithful tithing might be the Honda Accord that runs for an additional 35,000 miles with no major repairs.  Maybe a furnace lasts well beyond its life expectancy.  Perhaps a project at work just falls into place which frees up extra time.

I think it will be the exception when $100 in the Sunday plate results in a $125 check from an insurance rebate arriving in the Monday mail.  But God will give back to us in ways we need the most, but perhaps see the least.  If our spiritual antennae are sensitive, we will begin to notice the multitude of ways God gives us a return on our financial, time, and emotional investments.  We can't out give God.