BE GENEROUS                                                    Ecclesiastes 11:1-2

‘Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.’ (v1)

Solomon’s pessimism almost completely dissolves as we move into these last chapters. If you are like me, you are probably saying to yourself, ‘And not before time!’ He begins this chapter with a well-known verse that is often repeated: ‘Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.’ What Solomon is conveying in these words is this: ‘Be generous, share yourself with others.’ I  like Charles Swindoll’s paraphrase of this verse, which reads: ‘Don’t put the bread in the deep freeze – it’ll dry out. Release it.’

The main thought underlying this statement is that we do not simply give, but give boldly, enthusiastically and energetically. Are you bold in being generous? Do you cling to the creek when you ought to be out on the wide ocean? It is not the giving of money that is being emphasized here (although that is part of it), but the giving of oneself. When we give of ourselves generously we do not lose, for in this universe things have a way of coming back to us – both good and evil.

Suppose the little boy had refused to let Jesus have the five loaves and two fishes, saying they were his and he would not let them go (see John 6:9)? He would have missed becoming the most famous little boy in history. The instruction, ‘Give portions to seven, yes to eight.’ (v2) is similar to our modern saying, ‘give to the nth degree.’ It means throw away your calculators and clipboards. Give without  measure. You never know when disaster is going to strike, so do your giving while you have the chance. God has  opened Himself to us – generously. Ought we not to do the same to others?

PRAYER LINE: Dear God, help me to give of myself boldly,  energetically and enthusiastically. From now on I shall be the channel and not the stopping place of all Your generosity to me. In Jesus’ name I pray. (EDWJ)

______________________________________________

We might look good on the outside without really being good on the inside