Tag: 1 Kings 17:8-16

Greetings! Visitors and New Beginnings Family. If you want, pour yourself a cup of coffee and then pull up a chair for the latest edition of Coffee with Gary entitled, “A Little Generosity Goes a Long Way.”

Those people who know me best, know that I love anything that has to do with numismatics, or in layman’s terms, coin collecting. Contained within my overall collection are several topical sets of coins and medals that fit a specific narrative.

For one such set, I sought the help of a man who wrote a “letter to the editor” published in a numismatic magazine. His letter contained information relevant to a coin in my set. Little did I know then that my request for additional information was only the beginning of what would become a rewarding relationship. Over the following years, I have received much more from him than merely answers to my questions.

As an unsolicited benefit to me, my new-found friend has also helped me to locate and purchase several hard-to-find and unique pieces for my collection. When I prepared a PowerPoint presentation for a talk at a national coin show, I asked my friend to review it. By integrating his detailed feedback into the final draft, he helped me to make it a resounding success.

Without my friend’s generous guidance and mentorship, my collection would be nowhere near where it is today. Only having known each other through the internet, we finally met in person at a coin show near Chicago. That evening, my wife and I enjoyed dinner with him at a local restaurant. However, what my friend generously gave me is worth much more than my picking up the tab for dinner.

Earlier this year, my friend offered to send me all the documentation he had accumulated over the years relating to my set. Naturally, this was an offer I just couldn’t refuse! Today, I am in the process of scanning those documents, hoping to generously pass them on to anyone who wants them for their collections. In that way, I intend to “multiply” my friend’s generosity to me.

Because of God’s kindness and love for us, he wants us to share his blessings with others (1 Timothy 6:17-19). The Bible in John 6:1-13 tells us of a boy who was willing to share the little food he had with Jesus, who, in turn, multiplied it to feed 5,000. The Bible also tells us in 1 Kings 17:8-16 of a widow and her son facing starvation during a time of famine. At Elijah’s request and against her maternal instincts to feed her son, the widow generously baked a small cake of bread for Elijah to eat. As a result, God made the widow’s flour and oil to last until the end of the famine. Our generosity, then, is not dependent on “how much we have” but on “what we have.”

As I contemplate the times in which we live, I am discovering that the COVID-19 pandemic has created numerous God-given opportunities for us to be generous. Consider how God has blessed you and ask him how he wants you to use his blessings to bless others.

In considering how you might be generous, try not to think only in financial terms. God may lead you to give money, but the boy in Jesus’s time and the widow in Elijah’s time only had small portions of food to share. God took what they generously gave back to him, and he multiplied it to bless others. Remember, my numismatic friend expressed his generosity to me by sharing information pertinent to my collecting interest.

Your fellow pilgrim in looking for a country of our own (Hebrews 11:13-16),

Gary