| October 1, 2019 -- From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Luke 12:48 NEV
I just checked, and this column will mark four full years since I first wrote a column for the November 2015 Granger. It is not surprising that I will from time to time return to a theme I have used before. In both the December 2016 column and the one from August 2018 I used the phrase “Giving of one’s abundance. This time I view it from a slightly different perspective.
The quote from Luke, above, shows that giving of one’s abundance is a commandment not a polite request. If the Lord has given us much, then we are commanded to give away the excess. It should be added that we should not expect either thanks or gratitude for so doing. Instead we should thank God that we have been given so much that we have the opportunity to share and the ability to give.
Our God-given abundance, which we must share, includes time, talent, and treasure. And by treasure we mean not only money, but all material goods. Is your farm or garden producing in abundance? Then share the excess with those who can use it. Have you inherited a house full of things you already have? Give them away; you don’t need them. Or hold a tag sale and give the proceeds to the poor and needy.
As for talent, everybody has something in this line they can share, whether it an ability to help organize and/or run a charitable activity, sing in the Church Choir, or give talks to local organizations about gardening, history, or whatever you are good at. Even if you are homebound, perhaps you have an ability to knit or crochet. There are dozens of charities looking for home-made knitted items.
Which brings us to the last item: time. Here the amount of spare time we have varies tremendously from person to person and from day to day. But if one finds that from time to time one does have time to spare then consider whether you have time for some worthy cause, or even just time to visit those who are lonely, sick, troubled or in any other need of your company.
Thus, in all things, share your abundance with others.
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