Charlotte Kowalson
On Labour Day weekend, I had some of my usual gang over for lunch and then to stay to watch the football game. Lunch was the kid’s favourite – chicken strips and my husband’s homemade fries. The kid’s mom, Selena, brought the dessert-a chocolate, quick oats, and coconut confection that we all call fiddle-diddles – an absolute favourite of all, and because we were all going to watch the game she brought lots of cookies, about four dozen for eight people! Everyone had also brought their own snacks and, of course, there were lots of cookies left over when it came time to leave. Selena told me to keep some, and she also told Dad to take some home, as well. I put eight cookies into a container, and Dad took six.
Just before Selena and her family were going to head home, she checked on how many cookies I took. She brought her container over to me and told me to put more cookies into my container. I tried to argue that she had made them and should therefore take the majority of the leftovers home, plus I had the recipe and could make more myself; but she stood there with the container open until I took more. Then she took Dad’s little container and left him with the big one. Selena quickly left my house with a big smile on her face, and giggling as she walked down the sidewalk.
Later, I thought about how God’s love and blessings are treated much the same way. He loves us so very much that He sent His only Son here to live, to teach both by words and by example, to die for our sins, and then to raise to life and go back to Heaven. And He wants to bless us richly, far more than we actually deserve.
And yet, we tend to try to minimize the blessings we receive. Someone tries to help us around our house and we think, “Oh, they don’t need to do that, there is someone else who needs the help more than I do!” Someone gives us a surprise gift and we think, “Where else could the money be spent to help others?” Or someone tries to give us a compliment about something and we minimize the compliment by making excuses or saying it was no big deal.
God’s blessings to us are like the cookies! We try to accept only a few because we do not want to be greedy, or opportunistic, unable to provide for ourselves, or whatever reason each of us has in our hearts and minds. But just like the cookie maker, God uses other people and situations to switch the containers and bless us with what He wanted to in the first place.
I think He wants us to gratefully accept the blessings He has lavished on us, but also to use those blessings to serve and bless others!