The Lord Jesus said, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38).
Shortly before the turn of the twentieth century, two young students were working their way through Stanford University. At one point their money was almost gone, so they decided to engage the great pianist Paderewski for a concert and use the profits for board and tuition. Paderewski’s manager asked for a guarantee of $2,000. The students worked hard to promote the concert, but they came up $400 short. After the performance, they went to the musician, gave him all the money they had raised, and promised to pay the $400 as soon as they could. It appeared that their college days were over. “No, boys, that won’t do,” said the pianist. “Take out of this $1,600 all your expenses, and keep for each of you 10 percent of the balance for your work. Let me have the rest.”
Years passed. Paderewski became the Prime Minister of Poland following World War I. Thousands of his countrymen were starving. Only one man could help – the head of the U.S. Food and Relief Administration. Paderewski’s appeal to him brought thousands of tons of food. Later, he met with the American statesman to thank him. “That’s all right,” replied Herbert Hoover. “Besides, you don’t remember, but you helped me once when I was a student in college.”
I love that story, and it reminds me of a Scripture found in Ecclesiastes 11:1, “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”
Our Vacation Bible School, which ran July 29-August 2, was blessed of God as we averaged 57 children each night and saw 8 children receive Jesus Christ as their Savior! They also brought offerings each night for a missionary in the Philippines who is trying to buy a piece of property next to his church to be used for his children’s ministry. Our children gave (with the help of some adults) $1,460.40 toward that need. That was pretty amazing! But here’s what really touched my heart. A six-year-old boy won the visitor contest by bringing 9 visitors for the week (2 of which received Christ, by the way), and when he was awarded his $25 cash prize, he immediately gave it back to our Children’s Pastor and said, “Give this to the missionary in the Philippines for his children’s ministry.” Now, I don’t know about you, but $25 is a great sum of money for a child that age, but he freely gave it for a need he deemed greater than his own desire to keep it for himself. That, dear friends, is the spirit of generosity! I know that God has and will bless that young man because He has promised to do so!
Remember, God is honored by funnels and dishonored by sponges. Be a conduit of His blessing; not a dead end!