Grains of Sand

One of any pastor's favourite verses to haul out and wave in front of the congregation comes from 1 Corinthians 9:7. Paul writes: " Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver ." The quoting the verse is usually closely followed by the arrival of an offering plate. The context of the verse certainly supports the application. Paul is enthusiastic about the generosity of the saints in providing material resources for their poorer brothers. Cheerful giving doesn't just apply to money. I think of all the work teams and volunteers, young and old, who have made sacrifices to step out in faith to give their time and talents to help others in need. I remember the two elderly farmers who came to Colombia many years ago. One was a self-taught expert in all things mechanical and spent his month or so fixing everything that remotely fitted into that category. His friend was a carpenter and made...

" My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command " —John 15:12-14. Perfect. Amen. Hallelujah. I'll be happy to die for the sake of a friend. Easy to say when I am almost sure no one is ever going to ask me to make that ultimate sacrifice. But ask me to offer to take a neighbour on her weekly grocery run, babysit someone else's kids, spend time helping out at a homeless shelter, offer myself for that needy ministry in my church, entertain visiting missionaries, accept an exchange student for the purpose of doing some cross-cultural evangelism, fix an elder lady's broken faucet or cut her grass; well, that's another story. The possibility of dying is easier than the certainly of living out the reality of my commitment to Christ in my daily life. And the commitment IS to Christ. I read this verse as it relates to human friends, but th...