A Cup of Brown Sug

(Psalm 37:11)  But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

I love the word abundance because it speaks of having more than enough. As a matter of fact, God is a God of abundance and when we are in Him and He is in us then that means that we should be a people of abundance. That does not mean that everyone should be driving big cars and living in multi-million dollar homes. Abundance simply means having more than enough.

I went to an ladies meeting with my wife one time and the speaker was a young housewife who had several kids. It was obvious that she did not have a deep theological understanding of the scriptures, but it was also obvious that she was very confident in what the scripture meant to her. Her props were, a package of brown sugar, a cup, and her apron. Her subject was “abundance” and she used as her text. Luke 6:38. “Give, and it shall be given to you, good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over, they shall give into your bosom” …

She took her cup and filled it with brown sugar and said … “this is not what that scripture is saying”. With her fist she began pressing the brown sugar down in the cup and filled it up again and said, “this is still not what that scripture is saying”. She pressed the brown sugar down in the cup the third time and filled it until it was running over and said, “Now, this is what the scripture means to be “pressed down and shaken together and running over.”

With that she stepped back, picked up the corner of her apron and wiped her hands.

As I watched and listened to this young mother, I thought to myself, there are those who have spent years in seminary who cannot explain this scripture more thoroughly than she has. Could it be that all the great scholars in the world are no match for a little housewife with, a package of brown sugar, a cup, and an apron?

It seems possible that the abundance of peace in our text is actually the result of the test and trails in our life. If that is the case, then it gives a whole new meaning to being “pressed down and shaken together and running over”. But wait a minute … we don’t’ like the pressing down and shaking part … we only like the running over part. The fact is, if there is no pressing and shaking, then there is no running over.

In regard to the word abundance, Jack Hayford said one time that “abundance is measured in what I have given away … and not what I have”. If we make that same application to our text, its becomes easier for us to understand how to live life in the abundance of peace.

Father,

I want to be wealthy in peace. I want to live in the abundance of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. I also want to remember that simple lesson taught by the little young mother with only a cup, some brown sugar and an apron.

Amen