He does not ration his gift of the Spirit

He does not ration his gift of the Spirit

If there’s one thing we can say about God, it’s that he certainly is not stingy!   He loves to go above and beyond what his people might need or even expect.   For example, throughout their forty-year wandering in the desert, the Israelites woke up every morning to an abundant supply of manna.   God didn’t give them just enough food to sustain them.   Each morning after they gathered all that they needed, there was plenty left over (Exodus 16:21).

And when five thousand people followed Jesus to a mountainside, he took pity on them because they didn’t have anything to eat for dinner.   So with only five loaves and two fish, he fed everyone until they were satisfied—and there were twelve basketfuls left over (John 6:3-14).

God could have rationed the food, but he didn’t.   That’s not his nature.   His nature is to pour himself out for us without limit.

Think about how Jesus poured himself out for us on the cross.   He spared nothing in his quest to redeem us.   Then think about how he poured out his Spirit abundantly on the first disciples at Pentecost.   Their preaching and signs and wonders were evidence of the Spirit working powerfully in them.   And the result?   The explosive growth of the Church.

God has already given you his Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation.   But that’s not enough for him.   He wants to pour out more of his Spirit on you each and every day.   He wants to give you all that you need to be his disciple and to share his love with the people around you.   He doesn’t want to give you just enough to get by; he wants to give you more than you could ever imagine.

God is trustworthy.   He does what he says.   That means he doesn’t want you subsisting on just a little bit of his Spirit or just a few of his gifts.   So go ahead and ask for that second helping of the Spirit, or even the third.   Don’t worry about sounding greedy.   God rations neither the Spirit nor his gifts.   His generosity knows no bounds.

Word Among Us