Pressed Down, Shaken Together

Luke 6:38
"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." (NKJV)

Boy, that's a pretty good offer, isn't it? If we give liberally, God says He'll return our liberality. Goes nicely with the proverb that says if we lend to the poor, He'll repay us personally (Proverbs 19:17). Another one of His sweet deals. Hey, I think I could swing that... After all, can't take it with me, so I might as well give some of it away while I'm here... God promises to pay me back anyway, right?

I've heard Luke 6:38 quoted fairly often, but almost never in context. Let's look at the preceding verse: "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." It's pretty clear that this passage is about having a generous spirit -- which certainly includes sharing our money and our stuff -- but has a much broader application in our lives. The following verses expand on this theme even more. Jesus is instructing us to refit the templates on our attitudes. We need new default settings.

• Is it easy to be critical and condemning? to casually toss someone aside when they screw up something important?
• Is it just natural to assume the worst about people's motives when they do disappointing and hurtful things?
• Do offenses lodge in the heart, turning to bitterness? Grudges get held well into the next decade?

The liberality and graciousness demanded by following The Narrow Way is in response to the immeasurable kindness of God's mercies toward us. Because we have been redeemed from certain death, we likewise extend ourselves generously in our relationships with others, in gratitude for this amazing grace.

I don't think I'll ever forget an event that occurred in my kitchen about twenty years ago. I watched as my husband's mother was attempting to pour a sack of wheat into a gallon jar. I was sure she had seriously misjudged the size of container needed, but wasn't about to say so. She poured until the wheat was even with the brim, then she shook the jar. Suddenly, there was room for more. Then she poured some more and shook the jar again. She must have repeated this drill about four times, and to my utter amazement, she got all the grain in the container. (Note: she was raised on a wheat farm in western Kansas; I'm city born and bred. She knew the ways of wheat.)

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Then she said, "I guess that's what the Bible means when it says 'pressed down, shaken together and running over.' " Having definitely commanded my attention and respect with her All-the-Wheat-in-the-Jar-Trick, her words hung in the air. I've pondered this 24-karat object lesson for years.

So when you think you've been about as generous as a person can possibly get, press down a bit, shake the jar a little, and then pour some more. Forgive and release that offense against you, and that other one that happened the week before. Oops, almost forgot yet another one. It's gotta go too.

Do it because that's just how it's done in Heaven.