| Acts 20:35 – “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” |
Where does Joy come from? Where do we find fulfillment in life? In the 1960s, the pursuit was to “find yourself.” But many times, people look for themselves in all the wrong places. Perhaps, we should look in a different place.
One of my favorite books around the holidays is a book by John Grisham. Grisham is famous for legal dramas which are page turners. But one year, he wrote a little book about a family at Christmas. The man had grown tired of the hooplah of Christmas and decided to skip Christmas and go on a cruise. Needless to say, this raised the catcall of Scrooge from friends. Then, his daughter came home, and his dreams were dashed. He had put everything he had to making it a special time for him and his wife.
In the end, he gives the cruise to a man and his wife who was struggling with cancer.
In the end, he found that instead of the enjoyment of the cruise, he found the joy of the giving away.
Life is full of moments when we think, “If I could just get what I want, I would be happy.”
Some get a dream job and find it a prison. Others gain a promotion that takes them away from their family. The great tragedy in life is that you get what you want.
In the Bible, Paul was seeing some of his friends for the last time. One thing he told them was:
“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”(Acts 20:35)
-Robert G. Taylor-
robertgtaylor.com
