Daily Devotion, November 11, 2020

 

Devotion: Read Acts 2:42-47.

“They will know we are Christians by our love” is a hymn written in the 1960’s by Father Peter Scholtes. It originates in a phrase that non-believers used to describe Christian believers of the early church.

Acts 2 also has phrases to describe the earliest Christian believers including that they “sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need,” indicating that they were generous.

Paul writes in his letter to the church at Corinth, “If I give all I possess to the poor, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

Love and generosity go together. Love is the “why” of God’s generosity unto us and God’s call for us to be generous unto others.

Thinking about the word, “generous,” what if the earliest Christian believers had been known for all those wonderful characteristics listed in Acts 2, but had not been “generous?” How can one encounter God’s generous gift to us of Christ, God’s own Son, and not be generous? Their generosity gave testimony and witness of their belief in Christ and love for others.

Through the years I have found that “little is much in God’s hands.” One of my favorite stories is that of Oseola McCarty who did laundry and ironing for others for a living. (Guideposts, September 1996 and can be found on Guideposts.org) She loved God, her church, her Bible and others. She saved her small amounts of change through the years. She retired at 86. She asked that her savings be given to the University of Mississippi for scholarships for African-American children who are eager for learning, but whose families couldn’t afford to send them to college.

Her lifetime savings of pocket change has enabled many to receive a college education. Oseola said, “I’m always surprised when people ask me, ‘Miss McCarty, why didn’t you spend that money on yourself?’ I just smile. Thanks to the good Lord, I am spending it on myself.”

That’s generosity, born of Christ’s love. Personal Worship Option: Give God thanks today for God’s generosity unto you. Give God thanks today for the people who have been generous unto you. Ask God for new ways in which you can be generous unto others. Little is much in God’s hands. Amen.