It’s been great to get the ‘Ancient Pathways’ online training series underway. This week we went to one of the highest waterfalls in North Wales called Pistyll Rhaeadr which means (spring of the waterfall). It took quite a bit of driving through those narrow Welsh roads to get there (you know, the ones where you’re always hoping that nothing is coming the other way) but the trip was worth it. We got some stunning footage of the falls and it really works well with the theme – ‘the overflowing life’.
We’re focusing on five classic Christian devotions in this series and this week we took a good look at charity. Not the common usage it has today to describe ‘non profit organizations’ but in the original sense of the word – ‘agape love’ or ‘godly giving’ (faith, hope and charity).
Here’s an extract from the training:
A JOYFUL GIVER
In regards to our soul garden let’s consider the private devotion of selfless giving. In Genesis 2 we see a picture of what this may be like from the Garden of Eden.
“Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.”
So as the river of giving flows out of us it also waters the garden of our souls. This river of life flowing out of Eden then also separates and flows through rich lands of gold and precious stone. This surely speaks to us of the way in which our heavenly Father will duplicate our offerings to enrich others.
As we said at the beginning there are two elements to the devotion of charity – giving to others and receiving from God – this creates the life flow.
It’s only in this context that we can understand what scripture means by a joyful giver. Just like waterfalls and fountains and overflowing bowls – when we give it isn’t something God has to prize out of our fingers – it’s actually an expression of a happy, yielded heart.
