Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Truly Blessed

Today I met a man named Dan. As he filled up his coffee cup, I simply asked, "How's it going?" His response blew me away.
"Man, I am blessed! So BLESSED! I'm still blessed from yesterday! Let me tell you what happened, it was amazing!" (Dan is a homeless man who was staying warm and enjoying coffee at The Beacon, a Houston CSM site)
Dan recounted his story, which helped me see with fresh eyes how Jesus flips the whole concept of "blessings" upside down. "I was out on the street yesterday afternoon and some lady brings me a big meal. I said 'I'm not hungry, but I'll take this and give it to someone who is.' So the lady gets real excited and gives me two more. So I start walking around and I start finding hungry guys along the street. I ended up feeding 9 guys with those 3 meals. I got to feed 9 people! God is so good!"
I was stunned. Not only did Dan not have the appearance of one who is "blessed," but he found God's blessing not in the little he had, but in what he was able to give away. Wow!
The apostle Paul reminds us of Jesus' words - "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35) That sometimes seems easy to grasp when I have more than I need. But Dan had almost nothing. He received some food, and God multiplied that blessing as he gave it away. Oh, to have that heart of Jesus! Lord, bless us today by showing us how to joyfully GIVE in your name!

-Eric, CSM Houston Spring 2010 City Host

1 comment:

donnave said...

Oh, Eric, how exciting!! Wish all our friends got it like you do...and, like Dan does. Isn't it humbling?