To share is to be fair.
What that means is that greed hurts those in need. When we are blessed, we are expected to spread some of our blessings around. We are to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and make sure widows and children are looked after.
Sharing doesn’t necessarily come easily. What triggers our sharing gene? It is, of course, love.
1 Samuel starts off with the story of Elkanah. He was a generous man who traveled to Shiloh each year to worship and sacrifice to the Lord. At that time he would offer a portion of his peace offering to everyone in his family. However, to his wife Hannah, he gave a double portion.
Why is this significant? Hannah was barren, yet Elkanah loved her more than all the other members of his family.
The story goes on, for Hannah was Samuel’s mother, and Samuel was one of the greatest prophets in Jewish history. However, we all know of Samuel. Our point today is that Elkanah loved Hannah more even while she was still barren.
We can make Hannah’s story ours. God loved us above all creation even when we were still sinners, and he offered us his double portion, although we did not know him.
John 3:16 says:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
God didn’t look down on the world and say, “Look at how well my creation is doing! I will reward them with my most precious son.”
Rather, because we were going under for the third time, his heart was stirred, and out of his love, he gave us that which we did not deserve. He opened his hand, and he offered us his double portion. He offered us new life through Jesus, the Christ.
Elkanah loved Hannah even when she had nothing to give him in return. God loves us the same way. His love for us has nothing to do with what we can accomplish for him. It’s all about what he can do for us.
Even when we have trouble loving God, he has no trouble loving us.
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Code: FGO.C.20.15.vp.esv