July 22

So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her household. — 1 Kgs 17:15 BSB

If the prophet hadn’t come to the widow’s door, she and her family likely would have perished in the famine. Or if she had turned him away, saying, “I can’t spare anything for a stranger; charity begins at home, and I have to take care of my own first,” she and her son would have starved before the rains came. The reason the meal didn’t run out was because she shared it.

The lesson here is clear: there is a kind of withholding that leads to poverty, and a kind of giving that brings enrichment. If you want to experience spiritual blessings, seek to be a blessing to others. If your love has grown cold, help someone, and it will warm again. We can’t afford to shut our doors to those whom God sends our way seeking sympathy and love. By serving others, we bring blessings to ourselves that we don’t want to miss.