Blog By Polly Boyette
I remember going Trick or Treating when I was a kid with my sister, Robbie. To us it was all about getting free candy. We would rush through dinner so we could get our costumes on and hit the streets. We went to as many houses as possible, even leaving our own neighborhood sometimes. Each time someone dropped a piece of candy into our bag we’d stick our heads in to see what we got. Sometimes it was a full size candy bar and sometimes it was only a small piece of hard candy. We’d always run to the next house hoping to hit the jackpot.
On one Halloween night, Robbie and I went out Trick or Treating for quite a while. When we got home Robbie immediately let out a loud cry.
“What in the world is wrong with you?” I asked.
“My candy is all gone,” said Robbie through tears. “There’s a big hole in the bottom of my bag.”
Apparently her bag got too heavy and she started dragging the bag along the street until the bottom ripped open, leaving a trail of candy behind her.
I shrugged my shoulders and went to my room to sort through my bag of candy. It was terrible what had happened to Robbie, but I didn’t really see how that impacted me. I could hear Robbie still crying in the living room while I was separating my hard candy from my bubblegum. Suddenly it happened. My dad opened the door and gave me the bad news.
“You’re going to have to share your candy with your sister because she lost all of hers,” he announced.
When Dad shut the door and left us alone I made it clear to Robbie that I would decide what she would receive from the bag of candy. I handed her a sucker and a couple of pieces of bubblegum. Her bottom lip started to tremble.
“Okay, okay,” I said, not wanting her to cry again.
I handed her a little bag of candy corn, but that wasn’t good enough either. The next thing I knew, we were rolling around on the floor, screaming and pulling hair. Of course, this immediately brought Dad back into the room. He reached down and put all of the candy back in the bag, announcing he would divide the candy into two bags for us. Robbie smiled and followed Dad out of the room because she knew it was too dangerous to be left alone with me.
Having a younger sister, I learned a lot about sharing at a young age.
God is also very interested in sharing.
“What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage.” Isaiah 58:7
God has deposited so much into our lives, but instead of sharing what we have with others, often we’ve got our head stuck in our own bags, admiring the goodies God has given us.
“If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, gift wrap your best coat and make a present of it.” Matthew 5:40
God wants it gift wrapped, baby!
When we lift our up bag to God and ask him to make a deposit, He always gives us His very best. We need to dip down and pull out the good stuff when we’re sharing, without bargaining or expecting something in return. No tricks, just treats.