There is an ancient custom among the Jews that is practiced every Sabbath evening where a cup is placed on a saucer and it is filled to overflowing, filling the cup and the saucer. It is accompanied with a prayer for God’s blessings to flow into their lives and to overflow to those around them. There are a couple of key lessons to gather from this practice.
First, the concept of reaping what we sow is from God. It is up to God to determine to what magnitude he will bless what we have sown. Secondly, we are to provide for our families before we care for others. This is supported by 1 Timothy 5:8, which is in a passage giving instructions for providing for widows and says, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
The third point from this is that the smaller the cup we have, the more overflow we have for others. By being a consistent conduit for God’s blessings to flow through your family, I believe that God will add more blessings for you to manage. This is best maintained through a monthly budget and consistent tithing. If Christians simply tithed the 10% to their local Bible believing church that God has requested, I believe the church could out-give our government. If your family would like budgeting advice, we would love to share some tips we have learned in our journey.
The final lesson I want to share with you is that generosity should be a little painful. Without faith it is impossible to please God. In the story of the widow’s mite, she gave everything she had, and Jesus praised her for it. Part of relying on God for daily bread is letting go of our overflow.
While I fundamentally disagree with the printing of stimulus and child tax credit dollars by our government, let’s be good stewards of this excess money coming into our homes this year. Yes, take care of your family, but bless those God puts on your heart to bless, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).
