A mother had a favorite story to tell about her young son. She would tell the story all his life. She would say that, when he was about 3 or 4 years old, his two older sisters would take advantage of him. They would ask him to get things for them – the newspaper, the mail, a bottle of soda, things like that. The boy’s sisters would say, “Johnny, go get the mail and I’ll count to see how fast you can do it.” Well, they would start counting and the little boy would run off to do their bidding. “But, that’s not the end of the story,” the mother would say. The part of the story she loved to tell the most was, “one day your sister asked you to get her something and you said, NO!” The boy’s mother would tell it like the saying “NO” part was his vindication; no longer would he have to do things for his sisters.

What the boy’s mother didn’t say was the day boy started to say, NO, was the day he stopped giving gifts to his sisters and his sisters were not as quick to do little things for him either. They would not reward him with a smile and a big hug when he returned from getting the mail. He didn’t give to his sisters anymore, and gifts were not given to him; good measures, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, were not poured into his lap.

The boy had to learn to say “yes” all over again.

You see, in sermon after sermon, Jesus tells us that the more we empty ourselves and give to other people, the more room we have to receive the good things that God has in store for us. You and I should take the example from God. God gives to us and keeps giving no matter what we do. The more we use and share God’s gifts, the more he will give to us. So, let us share our gifts from God and let us give unceasingly. The more we give the more we will get in return – from God.