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Do you recognise the name Viktor Frankl? He was born in 1905, became a well-known Austrian neurologist and psychologist. He was Jewish and lived in the terrible years of World War II, and along with his family, he was sent to a number of concentration camps in 1942. Tragically, his father perished in one of the camps, and Viktor Frankel was sent to the infamous Auschwitz camp. His mother was killed. His wife eventually died in terrible conditions which all the inmates had to somehow survive. He lived with suffering and death all around him, yet this man survived and eventually was liberated.

He returned to Vienna, where he wrote several successful books. The best-known book is Man’s Search for Meaning. He talks about his experience of hell on Earth, finding a purpose beyond himself in Hitler’s death camps, so you can imagine what it must have been like. In one chapter, he remembers this. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread.

Generosity that changes the world

Isn’t it extraordinary that people can be so unselfish in a time of extreme need to give away their last piece of bread as they were starving themselves? It is indeed an act of overwhelming generosity. There have been many acts of generosity. 10 days after the attack on Pearl harbour, people from the town of North Platte in Nebraska heard that some soldiers from their town would be passing through on the train on the way to the West Coast. 500 people showed up with food, drink, and letters for the soldiers. A few days later, a woman from the town wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper suggesting that the town organised a canteen for the soldiers passing through on their way to the war. And again, the response was overwhelming.

Every day during the next 4.5 years, people came with sandwiches, coffee, books, and magazines for the soldiers on their train ride. By the time the last train arrived on April 1, 1946, 6 million soldiers had been blessed by the people of North Platte.

The African Footballer of the Year in 2019 was a guy called Sadio Mané, a hugely popular soccer player, who, as a young man, earned millions of dollars each year in his sport of soccer. He was born in West Africa to a poor family, but he was a determined young man whose brilliance on the soccer field was soon realised. A journalist one day spotted Sadio using an old, cracked iPhone and asked, why have you got that? And Sadio replied- Why would I want 10 Ferraris, 20 diamond watches, and 2 jet planes? What good would that do for the world? I starved. I worked in the fields. I played barefoot. I didn’t go to school. Now I can help people. I prefer to build schools and give poor people food or clothing.

It’s all about overwhelming generosity. Do you know that God is our Heavenly Father who shows overwhelming love and generosity to all people? The psalmist in Psalm 103 says, Let all that I am praise the Lord. May I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins. He heals my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies, and he fills my life with good things.

It was Chuck Swindle who said, do you have eyesight? Well, that’s a gift. Have you got a good mind? That’s a gift. Do you have leadership abilities that cause others to follow a good education? he said- they’re all gifts. Has he given you a family, clothing? How about a nice warm, soft bed at night or a comfortable place to live in the hot summer? But these are all gifts from God’s hand. Reflect on His numerous gifts to you, and it will increase your joy. And a smile will soon replace that frown. That was Chuck Swindle.

So not only are we aware that God has been and is generous, but we also know that we can count on Him to be that way. God is faithful. His promises are always kept. The Bible says in Lamentations 3, How enduring is God’s loyal love. The eternal has inexhaustible compassion. Every morning, Your faithfulness, God is as broad as the day.

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Let’s Pray

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the overwhelming generosity that you showed in allowing your Son Jesus to come to earth as a baby, to be born, to show great sacrificial love in dying on the cross for me. May I be known, Lord, as a person of great generosity. I pray this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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