Craig Clouston

 What Goes Around

April 23

Give, and it will be given to you … For with the measure you use, it

will be measured to you.

Luke 6:38

Luke smiled as he hung up the phone. God had a sense of humor. Luke had

just been given a new-to-him used car, no charge. It had been a gift from

someone at his church to replace his lately deceased Honda Accord. His smile

was wonder filled, and this was where God’s sense of humor applied, because

now the shoe was on the other foot—on the other foot because in the past,

Luke and his wife, Connie, had given away several vehicles. It had been such

a blessing to see the appreciation in the beneficiary’s eyes, hence God’s ironic

economy: “Give and it will be given to you.”

Luke and Connie had both been raised in homes where helping others

was a way of life. Never well off financially, they learned to love blessing people

for the Lord.

This situation gave them a unique perspective. They went from blesser to

blessee. Being on the receiving end was certainly different—humbling. They

knew what their benefactor would feel each time he saw them driving this car

and that made it easier to accept his generosity.

They blessed God for the gift and asked His blessing on their benefactor,

who had been so generous in their time of need.

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This couple hadn’t given away vehicles in the hopes that someone would return

the favor someday. They had done it out of a spirit of love and giving, with a

heart that heard the voice of the God whispering, “Someone needs My bless-

ing. Will you be My instrument?”

This incident does, however, point out the truth of today’s text: if you are

a giver, it will not guarantee God’s immediate blessing; it does, nevertheless,

promise God will give to you in the same way you give to others.

Prayer

“Lord, because of Your great love and mercy, I give all

I have freely to You to do what You want. How could

I do anything else? It’s all Yours anyway. Amen.”