I’ve given away my shoes
And walked barefooted
On the stony ground.
I’ve given away my food
And stayed hungry
So that another soul could eat.
I’ve built beautiful shelters
For the homeless
While I slept under a tree
I’ve given away my coat
To the cold and trembling
While I walked drenched in the rain
I’ve done these things because
I’ve learned the love of Jesus;
And I wish that you
Would learn it too.
When Pastor Jenny from the Assemblies of God Church in Lethem read the above poem, entitled “The Love of Jesus,” she looked at me in disbelief and said, “you’ve got to be kidding.”
Needless to say, I was speechless, but I wasn’t kidding. For those of us who truly understand the love of Jesus, we know that, as Jesus said, “it is better to give than to receive.” For giving is the assurance of receiving even more than you had given, or, to put it in other words “giving is the power to receive.”
Yesterday, on August 12, 2019, I made a trip to Boa Vista in Brazil. My first stop was at the bank. My second stop was at the cellphone shop and my last stop was supposed to be at the dentist. But before going to the dentist, I stopped at a restaurant by the roadside to have lunch.
As I started eating, a little boy in ragged clothes, about 5 years old, approached me. He said that he was hungry. I asked him if he wanted the food I was eating. He said yes. I hadn’t eaten much of the food yet, so it was still good to go. I indicated to him to take it. He quickly did and went to eat it at the next table. Next, I poured the lad a glass of cherry juice which he quickly drank.
Who was this hungry lad and where were his parents? Where would his next meal come from? And finally, would he grow up to be someone good and useful in society? To all these thoughts that raced through my mind, I had no perfect answer. But what I was sure of is that God has amazing ways of providing for His children. And as I sat there watching the child eat my lunch, a profound sense of joy filled me up. I felt like a “godsent.”
Indeed, “I had given my good away so that another soul could eat.” But I wasn’t exactly hungry. I don’t eat much anyways.
