“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Growing up with brothers, I don’t remember many acts of generosity towards each other. We hid what was valuable to us, and sharing was not our favorite pastime. With a focus on getting the presents we wanted, and then guarding whatever we got from the others, my childhood memories of Christmas now seem to be a bit selfish. As we matured, we started noticing the sacrificial lifestyle of our parents. I can’t remember the first time it happened, but gradually, with their help, we experienced the blessing of giving. It may have started with a craft, like a painted rock, or a crayon masterpiece, but the experience of bringing joy to someone else was a new experience. Eventually, some of the gifts given were the result of a labored decision that involved the experience of sacrifice. It was then that this act of giving started teaching us lessons. Giving became a way of showing love. As love grew, the intensity of the planning, preparing, saving, searching, wrapping, and waiting for the gift to be received became a significant experience. Anticipation was hard to bear, and the drama of their excitement and appreciation of the gift was wonderful.
Luke 6 doesn’t refer to the gift that you give out of duty or custom—that gift made without real passion, cheaply or hastily tossed together—that gift given with a smile, but without real cost, given because you need to and without real love does not fulfill your need of responsibility. This line: “. . . good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over” refers to serious care that insists on giving all you can give, with nothing held back, or saved for something else.
If nothing else, Christmas should give us the overwhelming reminder of God’s Gift to us.
God gave us all that he was. The gift of Himself was the whole measure, pressed down and shaken together to be ALL that He had to give. It cost HIM everything. His love is running over. It should humble us and convict us to worship Him completely—to want to obey him constantly—to want to share it with someone else. HE is what they really need. What a great blessing we will be given when we give others the gift of the story, the testimony, and reality of God in our lives. It may cost us, but the blessing will be more than we can imagine.
Ford Mastin