The mountains around Lake Tahoe have a way of enlarging a man’s soul. The air is clean. The sky is wide. The granite stands like old warriors who have seen storms and refused to move.
I was sitting with my friend Wes near Truckee, talking about life—wins and losses, opportunities and pressures, the goodness of God. Wes spoke about giving to orphans and sending the gospel around the world.
He had learned something every man must learn:
Giving is the external evidence of love.
“God so loved the world that He gave…” Love gives. Lust takes. Greed hoards. Fear withholds. But love gives.
That conversation took me back to the story of Elisha and the widow. The widow's husband had died. He had been part of Elisha's team of ministers. Now her debts were crushing her. The creditors were coming to take her sons as slaves. She was desperate.
Elisha asked her, “What do you have in your house?” She said, “Nothing… except a flask of oil.” There is always something.
God can use what you have in your hand when you put it under His command.
Elisha told her to borrow jars from her neighbors, shut the door, and pour the oil. She obeyed. Her sons brought the jars. She poured. The oil flowed. Jar after jar was filled. In this era, a village was full of jars - that's what was commonly used for everything. There should have been excess.
Then she asked, “Are there more jars?” Her sons answered, “We have no more.” And the oil stopped. When the jars stopped, the oil stopped.
When the people stopped giving, the oil stopped flowing.
That is still true.
Oil in Scripture often speaks of God’s presence, His anointing, His generous nature. God is not stingy. God is not fearful. God is not closed-handed. God gives life, mercy, strength, provision, and salvation.
Isaiah says, “Generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.” (Isaiah 32:8)
Generosity makes a man solid. A selfish man builds a wall around his life. A generous man builds a foundation under it ... and generosity gives him stability.
Sitting there with Wes, watching his kindness even toward the young waiter bringing our coffee, I thought of that widow’s sons running through the village looking for jars.
And I thought, Wes would have helped them find more jars.
That is what generous men do. They keep the oil flowing.
Brother, build a strong foundation for your life. Don’t let fear make you small. Don’t let greed make you hard. Don’t let comfort make you blind.
Be a generous man. Give with faith. Give with strength. Give with purpose.
Because generosity is not what a man does when he has extra.
Generosity is who a man becomes when God has his heart.
Keep the oil flowing.
We are the CMN Brotherhood ... this is what we do. We are generous at every turn.
Stand with the brotherhood and give today - click here.
Paul Louis Cole
