being blessed in sharing

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. (Hebrews 13:15-16 NLT)

We were out driving around this afternoon. There is really nothing to see in Lincoln. This is Nebraska and for the most part, everybody passed through here on their way to somewhere else.

Only the ones who broke down stayed.

The mall was closed today on account of Easter. After I got bored of looking at all the “scenery”, and we had gone into a large WalMart and looked around, I decided to stop at a couple of grocery stores.

Grocery shopping is a sort of hobby to me. Grocery prices are at a horrible high, yet we have a full stocked freezer and pantry. There are few things we need. The reason is my method of shopping.

I have written before about how I go into a store in the mall. I am a hunter. I view the surrounding countryside and if something looks good, I go and shoot it. I am not interested in getting up close and personal with all of the clothing in the mall like Ella is. I am tall and can look over all the racks to see if there is something good worth shooting. Ella likes to finger everything and check out everything. Not me.

Yet I have bought all of Ella’s clothing and she is quite classically stylish. As I said before, if left to her, she would still dress as she did in 1978. So it is up to me to keep her up to date.

The same goes for grocery shopping. I have a route in all stores, even the ones I have not yet been to.

In general, the layout is the same, maybe reversed, but other wise alike. You go into the produce section first. This is usually to the right. The bigger WalMart we went into today was to the left. Threw me off completely.

But I managed.

In the grocery stores, I go through the produce just casting a casual eye. Unless I have been there much, I do not look much at the produce. If I have been in there a lot and know what they have, I go to that section and see if it is on sale. One store has good bell peppers and onions. Another has good jalapenos and passilla peppers (kind of like Poblano peppers).  Others have their strengths.

But I go through there first. I rarely buy anything in those sections unless they are a great price. The funny thing is, the way I shop, I see a lot of good things like that. Again, the hunting/overview way of looking.

Next is the meat. I look for marked-down stuff. We have bought almost all of our meat on marked-down sales. Today, for instance, I got ground chuck for $1.29, an almost unbelievable price. I also got a good deal on Cheddarwurst sausages.

I do such a good job that I no longer feel the need to buy any more meat. I only get it if it is just too good to pass by – like the hamburger today.

Then I go by the cheese, both shredded and block. Most stores will have $1 cheese on occasion, the 8 ounce packages, maybe $1.29. If it is, I buy a lot – maybe ten packages. I can always freeze the shredded stuff (but not the block kind – nothing worse than a block of thawed out cheese). We use a lot of cheese in our entertaining, so I need it.

Then I go through the rest of the dairy and buy sour cream on sale, cottage cheese, cream cheese, etc. However, only if they are on sale at about $1 a tub. I also look for good buys on butter. I like the real stuff and it freezes fine. The rest doesn’t, but we use an awful lot of it.

I pass through the bakery section, but rarely get anything there. If there are samples, I will get some for me and Ella, but otherwise, I don’t find much. I did find 98 cent whole wheat buns the other day. Bought two packages. They freeze fine.

I end up around the center aisle, where all of the specials are located. I check on a few things we use a lot of: mayonnaise, salad dressing, etc.

I rarely ever spend much, but it is amazing what I find like this. As I said, I have filled two refrigerator freezer compartments with meat.

We do a lot of entertaining. It is one of the gifts God gave us and we do it. We have always tried our best to feed people. Since we do, the Lord has blessed us with a lot of food.

As long as I do not count it and all, we keep a lot. Once I counted it and tallied the amounts on the freezer door. We got down to almost nothing. I repented and since then, I look at what we have, but I am careful not to count it.

As you recall in the Bible, King David counted Israel and God punished him for his pride (2 Samuel 24). Kind of the same thing happened to us on a much smaller scale, of course. God gives us the stuff, pride does not.

It is odd that grocery shopping is a hobby, but it is. And it has been a fruitful one. The bacon for 99 cents a pound, the hamburger patties for $1a pound, the sirloin steak for $1.99 a pound, other things.

It is all from him. And as long as we share it, the freezer stays full. Occasionally, we even tithe it to someone else, bless someone else with our abundance. It is easy for people to get canned goods when they are down, but it is hard to get good meat.

That is our ministry. And it is my hobby.

hospitality

We just had some new friends over for supper. Ralph and Cat Weber. It is a joy for me especially to have people over to eat. For one thing, I like to cook. For another, it makes me feel alive, like a real person.

I know that sounds strange, but having people over is a really quite simple way to show hospitality. There are several passages that talk about it.

Romans 12:13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Romans 16:23 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city's director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.

1 Timothy 5:9-10 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

3 John 1:5-8 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.
Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

Hospitality is reaching out to others in a simple way. In the book of Acts, there was a woman whose main good thing in life was reaching out to others. Her death was such a blow that the apostle Peter was called to bring her back to life. All Dorcas did was make clothing for people, a simple act of hospitality.

Peter’s mother-in-law, in Matthew 8:14-17, was very sick and Jesus healed her. Her first act upon getting out of her sickbed was to begin to wait on him. Her first impulse was hospitality.

It is one good way to show our love for others. In fact, it is a concrete way to show the love for God in our own lives, by sharing.

It will be our main thrust here in Lincoln.