Several Saturdays ago, my wife called to me from the kitchen saying she needed me to go to the grocery store for her. I was tired of reading, so I jumped up, grabbed the shopping list, and headed for the car. I parked at Walmart and walked toward the door. But as I scanned over the items on the list, my heart sank. My wife had not been specific. Now this may not seem to be a problem to you, but it was for me. I knew better. There are so many ways that a man can mess up if the shopping list isn’t specific. Creamy or crunchy peanut butter? Great Value or Peter Pan? Small, medium, or large? But I was prepared, and I was not going to be trapped. I pulled out my cell phone. As I quizzed my wife on the first item, she reminded me that the groceries were for Brother So-and-so, a dear brother at church has been laid up for several weeks now, and our church was having an old-fashioned pounding for him tomorrow. As I ended the call, a warm feeling spread over me. Hey, I couldn’t mess up. Whatever I picked would be right. This was fun. Then, as I reached for the Great Value strawberry jam, I had another wonderful thought. This was no ordinary shopping trip; this was a spiritual shopping trip! These items weren’t for me; they were for a dear brother, and they were for the Lord. So, I put back the Great Value jam and picked out the more expensive Smucker’s Jam and put it into my basket. It felt good. As I selected the very best items from the shelves, I smiled. I was doing God’s work. When I got to the check-out, I even hoped that the total would be a little larger than it was. Driving home, I remembered the words of Jesus that Paul quoted in Acts 20:35, “… It is more blessed to give than to receive.” It was then that I realized that those words were true. Tomorrow my brother in Christ will be blessed, but tonight, I am blessed. Thank you, Lord.
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