One of the most under-discussed attributes of God is His generous nature. This is a shame as this quality is so deeply ingrained in His core that it overflows into His conduct and profusely floods out of every pore of His being.
Consider just four out of a million implied acts, in creation. When furnishing His beings with a pool to swim in, he did not stop with a pond but orchestrated springs, creeks, lakes, rivers and oceans of a billion hues. More waters than one could explore in 100 lifetimes. For food, He did not stop at bread but produced a thousand varieties of meat, vegetables, fruits, grains and sweets. If that were not enough, He placed in the anatomy of man an ability not only to mechanically process sustenance but to experience the wonder of taste in ways that electrify the buds. In the garden, He saw man needed help and went beyond engineering a robotic assistant by forming an entirely capable, equally enlightened and superiorly attractive mate. To cap it off, He turns to His crowning creation with a sigh after saying, "What I have created is good," (huge understatement) and He gave them dominion over it all with unbroken access to Him. Really, isn't that a bit excessive?
Consider the cross. The ones in creation that He gave the most unearned favor to, squandered the gift. They, and along with all mankind, rebelled against Him and traded His magnanimous entrustment for a piece of fruit and a lie. Man's act unleashed evil, death, and decay to all parts of this once utopian earth. Justice called for a consequence of the highest order. Wrath had to be poured out against the evil that now tainted the once pure. But... God GAVE. Looking at the rebels awaiting judgment, bound in chains earned by their own treason, God was moved to act in an over the top excessively generous manner. In place of the guilty, He offered Himself on the altar of sacrifice. In Jesus, He took the wrath due the rebels and offered undeserved pardon, relational renewal, and an eternal inheritance. Are you kidding me? Who takes an enemy and forgives, adopts then incorporates them into their estate planning, one full of eternal riches in glory? No words.
The more I consider my Jesus and His calling for me to follow Him, to emulate Him, the more I am sure it is a call for me to be Excessively Generous.
"You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich." I Corinthians 8:9
"Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus." I Timothy 1:14
"The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers." Psalm 37:21
- Micah McElveen