Giving away freshly-baked brownies, the kind with gooey caramel inside, is a favorite tradition of our grade school grandchildren in Tennessee. Amos was explaining the benefits of sharing these treasures to his four year old brother, saying, “It makes you feel good to give them away!” When the opportunity presented itself for him to express his thoughts on the subject, Isaiah retorted, “I’m going to eat mine!”
It is refreshing to hear a child cut to the chase. We who are older tend to talk about what we would do if we only had the opportunity. But, reality is often quite different from that which is hypothetical and accurately predicting follow-through is daunting task.
Jesus told the story of two sons who were told to go work in the vineyard. One said, “I will not”; but later changed his mind and went. The other son promised to go but did not fulfill his promise. Jesus preferred the son who honestly refused but later had a change of heart to the son who falsely promised without following through with his intention (Mt. 21:28-32).
There is still time for Isaiah to grow in the virtue of sharing. Amos is right about the good feeling associated with giving. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). It is easy to give that which costs little or nothing. It is quite another thing to give sacrificially. For some this may mean a plate of Mom’s delicious brownies. For others, it may be something entirely different. Just remember, that when we give from the heart, we are the ones most richly blessed.