CrossLife Church- Pflugerville, TX

Is Your Cart Full?

The formula for getting rich is simple. Make sure that your income (which makes you richer) is more than your expenses (which make you poorer), and over time you will accumulate wealth. 

But there’s an exception. Not all income and wealth makes us richer; some makes us poorer. And not all expenses and donations make us poorer; some makes us richer.

God explains it this way: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously … Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous” (2 Corinthians 9:6,10,11). 

Imagine that you are pushing your grocery cart through the parking lot, filled with all of life’s necessities like toilet paper and laundry detergent and brisket for the weekend and deodorant and a few more school supplies, etc. 

Right next to your car with $473/month payments, a poor family in a beat-up car opens their trunk and empties their grocery cart into it—one loaf of bread, some potatoes, and 3 cans of pre-made sloppy Joes. That’s all they could afford. 

You pass by, glad that your family isn’t poor, excited to eat all your food and wear freshly laundered clothes every day. 

Pulling into the next parking spot is a guy who opens the back of his van and he’s giving away free big screen smart TVs complete with a subscription for streaming 1,000 channels, the latest gaming system, and free internet. 

He wants to give one to you, but he can’t, do you know why? There’s no room in your cart. You should have given your food away. 

God has blessings he’s just waiting to give us, but we’re not ready for them. There’s no room in our heart. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking. That TV would never fit in the cart anyway. My friend, that kind of limited thinking is exactly what robs us when it comes to God’s unlimited blessings. We should seek and pray and give with the faith that God will not only give us big blessings, but increase the size of our cart and heart to be able to receive them.

Make more room for God in your life, and sow generously. 

Pay it forward for the person behind you in the drive thru and pay for their order.

Try tithing (giving 10% of your income) to church for ten weeks (Ten for Ten).

Team up with your kids and sell at least 5 items on Facebook Marketplace, then donate the money to a women’s shelter or food pantry.

Give extravagant tips to people who don’t expect them.

And just watch what God can do.

PRAYER: Dear generous God, you are a giver not a taker. Teach me to be less of a consumer and more of a contributor. I want to make more room in my life for you, and for your kind of generosity. Amen.

FURTHER MEDITATION: Walk slowly through the words of God above in 2 Corinthians 9. Do they help you take a next step to pay for another person’s order, tithe for ten weeks, sell items, or give an extravagant tip?