Sunday, December 28, 2014

2 Corinthians 9:10


2 Corinthians 9:10 - Now He who supplies see to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.


God desires us to be generous. All through Proverbs we see verses about how we are to help others and share what we have with those in need. Jesus whole life screamed generosity, which extended all the way to Him giving up His life for us, and we are supposed to live by His example. Now Paul is talking to the church in Corinth about giving and being generous.
Notice in this verse Paul references to different aspects of us receiving from God. First we see that God provides seed to the sower and then we see that ‘bread’ is provided for food. There are a couple of things that I want you to see here.
First, understand that God gives everyone see to sow. There are things in your life that God has given you so that you can bless others. We all have these things, whether it be money, gifts, talents or something else.
Notice also that Paul mentions that God provides bread for food. God is going to give you what you need to live. That is always reassuring, but what I want you to see is that these two things are separate. God takes care of our needs and gives us seed to sow.
It is easy to get these two things confused. I have been in a place where I would say, “I don’t even have enough for myself, how can I give to others?” In looking at this verse we see that God is giving us ‘bread for food,’ in other words He is providing for our needs, but He is not telling us to give this away. We are to ‘eat’ it.
What we are to give away is the seed. It is an entirely different thing. And it doesn't have to be much. Whatever God gives you to sow, sow it. Then it can grow as God determines it to grow.
Think about it this way: If you have one seed to start with, what good will it do to eat it? Not much, it wouldn't even count as a snack and wouldn't be worth mentioning. But what if you planted it? That one seed could turn into thousands.
In looking at this illustration of seeds we can see that it doesn't matter what we start with, what matters is that we start. Sow your seed. Give to someone in need. Start small and before you know it you will be able to give more.

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