Giving

"As every man wisheth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:7 (GNV)

       The Native Americans of this country have a very pretty legend about the leaves and the birds.

They say that long, long ago when the Great Spirit was busy making the earth beautiful, that everywhere he stepped, there the trees and the plants and the flowers began to grow at once. The leaves of the trees were very happy and sang songs all the day. But one morning the wind came along and told the leaves that very soon they would fall from the trees to the ground and would wither and die and be forgotten.

       This made the leaves very sad and they forgot for a little to sing. But by and by, when they thought how happy it made the old tree to hear them, they began to sing again and forgot all about what the wind had said.

       But sure enough one day in the Fall it became very cold. The wind blew and the leaves began to loosen their hold on the tree, and to fall to the ground. The tree had to give them up one by one till there was not a single leaf left on the sad old tree.

       As they lay there, the Great Spirit came walking along that way. He saw the beautiful, many colored leaves on the ground, and thought to himself, "What a pity to let those lovely things go to waste.'' So he determined to make them live again. He gave to each leaf a pair of wings and taught them to fly, and they became the birds. The red oak leaves became the robin-redbreasts, and the yellow willow leaves became the yellow birds, and the brown leaves became the sparrows and the swallows. What a flock of them there were! And they flew off up into the trees again. The trees had had to give them up, but they got them all back, and they were so much more beautiful than they were before.

loaves and fishes

       Now let me tell you what this legend teaches. It means that no one ever gives up anything for God that He does not give him back something ever so much better and more beautiful.

       Once while Jesus was here, there was a great host of very hungry people out in the wilderness who had had nothing to eat all day. There were no stores where they could buy, and they were too far away to go home. 

       Jesus called the disciples and asked them to feed the people, but the disciples had nothing to give them. Then the Lord commanded them to go and see what they could find in the crowd. After a little they came back and told Him that there was a small boy there who had five biscuits and two small fish. The little boy's mother had given him some lunch that morning when he came away from home, and he had not eaten it yet. And that was all that they could find in that crowd of thousands of people. 

       Jesus called the lad to Him and asked if he would give Him his lunch. The little boy didn't want to at first. He was hungry himself, but the children all loved Jesus and so he gave it to Him. And then what do you think that Jesus did? He took that little boy's basket of lunch and He made it more and more till there was enough to feed all those thousands of hungry people. When they had all had enough, He called the little boy to Him and gave him back what was left. There were twelve big baskets full. There was so much that he couldn't carry it all. He had to ask some of his friends to come and help him. He had given the Lord a little, and the Lord had given him more than he could carry.

       When he went home that night and showed his mother all that Jesus had given him, I am sure that he was very glad that he had been willing to give up something for Jesus. Just think what that boy would have missed and what those thousands of people would have missed if he had been selfish and unwilling to let Jesus use what he had.

       A good man once said, ''I have lived many years and have had many experiences. There has been much joy in my life and there has been a little sadness with it too. But I have never made a single sacrifice for God which He has not repaid many times."

       Jesus never forgets a sacrifice that has been made for Him. He remembers and gives back to the boy or girl who has made it something far better than that which has been given up. Hutchison