To Encourage You

1 Thessalonians 2:8 “we were ready to share with you . . . the gospel of God”

In the verse above, the apostle Paul talks about his readinessto share the gospel with the believers of Thessalonica.  The Greek word that he used and which is translated “share” is an interesting one.  It carries with it the idea “to give something to someone of which one retains a part.”  What a wonderful truth this is when we consider the effect that sharing the gospel with another person has on the person that shares it.  As we share God’s truth with others, we don’t really lose anything we share. In fact, we actually gain, and the more we share, the more we gain. That’s the way it is with anything that the Lord gives us, but especially with respect to the Word of God, otherwise known as the Bread of Life, and the manna from Heaven.  It is our spiritual food, but it’s food that we are to share with others. 

This brings to mind the account of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew 14.  As the disciples looked at this vast throng of people, their solution was to send the people away to buy food for themselves.  It was then that Jesus said “You give them something to eat.”  Imagine the shock when He said this to them.  They surely had nothing to share. They didn’t have anything to even feed themselves. But it was then that Jesus took five loaves and two fish and began to break them into pieces and hand the pieces to the disciples to distribute to the people.  The result: all the people (i.e., 5,000 men, “besides women and children”) ate until they were satisfied, and the disciples were left with 12 baskets full of broken pieces left over, i.e., one full basket for each of the 12 disciples. 

That’s the way it is with the Word of God.  In the face of the overwhelming needs of the people God has placed in our lives, what are we to do?  None of us can fix everyone’s problems. We have enough problems of our own, for the most part.  So, what are we to do when we see a need?  What can we do?  What resources do we really have? 

Well, one thing we have is our possessions.  God has made it clear that we are to share what we have with those in need. We are to practice hospitality.  We are told that “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what goodis that?” (James 2:15-16).  Likewise, we are told “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it’—when you have it with you” (Proverbs 3:27-28).  Indeed, one of the very reasons God provides any of us with more than enough for our own needs is so that we will be vessel through which He can bless others.

But then, what if we don’t have enough, then what?  Do we really think that God can’t replace anything we give others when we act in obedience to Him?  We can never out give the greatest Giver, a reality that I can tell you has played out in my own life as well as in the countless lives of others.  But the greatest gift we can give anyone is the Word of God.  It is a wonderful reality of the giving of this gift that as we share it, our understanding of that Word only grows.  It is in the act of sharing God’s truth with others that He multiplies His bread of life to us.  His Word isn’t something to be hoarded. It isn’t something we are to study and study and study some more but never share with anyone around us.  It’s to be shared, to be spoken about, to be used to enrich the lives of others as God gives us opportunity. 

As we see the physical and spiritual needs of people around us, often we don’t have much in and of ourselves with which to help them. So often our words seem so inadequate, and our thoughts so insufficient.  But as we understand and spend time in God’s Word, He sovereignly works in our lives to open opportunities at just the right moment to share just the right thing, for His Word is all sufficient for the spiritual needs of all men.  And as we do this, God opens our eyes more and more “to the wondrous things in His Law” (Psalms 119:18). 

So, are you spending time in the Word of God each day, feeding on the very Bread of Life?  If so, that’s a very good thing.  But an even better thing is to not keep that precious spiritual food to yourself, but share it with others as God opens the doors.  And as the disciples experienced in the miracle of 12 baskets full, so the Lord has told each one of us to “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38). 

Praise the name of the Lord!