"give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38
I am taking my time in pouring over the sermon Jesus taught in Luke 6 and making sure I understand all the nuances of the examples and analogies He uses.
This one today is “Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap”. The analogy here is in regard to the grain sellers in the market. When you would go to the local market in New Testament times and want to buy grain for baking, you would buy by amount and not always by weight. In some cases, a shady or rushed seller would lightly fill a measuring container before dumping the contents into the storage container the buyer had brought to bring their grain home. I generous seller would fill the measuring container to the top, then tamp it down, tapping the container on a surface to settle the contents, and then add more to fill to heaping before pouring into the buyer’s container. This is how Jesus wants us to be with our giving…and He says that when we do so, we receive the same measure back to us.
There are many examples and analogies that Jesus uses to communicate this same set of points but this is the first time I have finally been able to wrap my brain around this specific one.
Application:
Am I giving of my time, energy, resources, and money in this way? Is it just enough to tick the box or am I considered a ‘Generous Giver”?