Ever Ready...like a Captive Lion.

Last weekend I had a block of free time on Saturday afternoon on the way home from some October farm-stand-shopping.  I decided to plug in my headphones and listen to a sermon by Eric Ludy (of course).  It was called Captive Lions: a study in Cheerful Giving, a bit of a peculiar sermon title (don't ya think?).  But maybe it was that title that drew me to listen to it.  I'm not going to write everything that was said, just some of the points that I took from it.  

1.  A captive lion is never content to stay in the cage that its captives have put it in.  The lion will try with all its might to get out (restless, eager, persistent).  When that cage is opened the lion will spring from the cage (hastening, happily, confidently).  We are to be as this lion when we give,  When God tells us to give we are to be obedient and do it without complaint, right away, as ready as the lion is to spring out of the cage, with smiling eagerness (2 Corinthian 9:6-8)

2. Then Eric went on to talk about how some people would worry about giving so much as to have only a little for themselves left.  God is our provider, NOT this worlds economy.  Our confidence does not lay in this world, but in Jesus who gives us EVERYTHING that we have.  He gave an example which he calls The Aquifer Principle.  There is a small puddle that you see and when you have emptied that puddle, more water bubbles up from underneath the ground to refill that puddle (the aquifer underneath has a never ending supply of water).  So, we do not have an reason to doubt God's provision because there is no end to God or his faithfulness.  We can count on him 100% of the time.

3.  He then talked about the 10 virgins (Matthew 25) and how we should always be ready to give cheerfully.  When God commands us we should be ever ready, like the five wise virgins.  To make the point more memorable (or more important?) he added a Greek word to this point (he does that a lot in his sermons and I happen to enjoy learning them, so you'll have to deal with it for now).  The word was Prosdechomai (the definition to the right) which summed it all up in one word.

These were the main points that I took from it, and I'm sure you all want to listen, right? 

Well, here is the link if you'd like to: http://ellerslie.com/sermons/eric-ludy/2-10-13/captive-lions

May God bless you all, till I post again...