The generous life
But when you give alms,
Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Matthew 6:3
Read 2 Samuel 9:6—11
If I were king, as David was, there would always be another interpretation of my behaviour. What I presented as generosity of heart, the honouring of an old friendship, an act of largess, sheer grace, my critics would always see as shoring up my own position. Currying favour. Eliminating potential rivals by buying them off. Well, I’m not a king. I just know that there’s something deeply sad and disillusioning if fine acts of generosity are done for the sake of position or for the brass plaque that will immortalise the donor. But the heart I have been entrusted with, the heart hidden in God, the heart owned by the Lord Jesus, just wants to take David at face value, without cynicism. ‘Is there anyone to whom I can show kindness?’
Loving Father, you are kindness itself. Your hand is open in generosity. Your rain falls on the just and the unjust. You are good to all that you have made. You did not spare your own Son. With him you will freely give me all things.[1] Enlarge my heart. Enlarge my heart to seek out the generous life. For it is the way of God. Show me who I can bless out of your abundance to me.
[1] Romans 8:32