Abundance

This morning as I was putting away the breakfast leftovers, I had a flashback to the birth of a childhood perception that grew to be a mindset that lives in me today. When I was in elementary and Jr. High School, my best friend was Kathy Luksa. Her parents owned Luksa’s Grocery and Meat Market. Mr. Luksa could always be found in the meat market wearing an apron with the colorful evidence of his trade.

Kathy’s parents were of Polish decent and spoke in Polish when they didn’t want us to understand what they were saying. Waking up in the Luksa household was always to polish music on the radio. We lived in a small town where most people were of German, Czech or Polish heritage. It was lively music to say the least. Along with the music, we were wakened with the smell of bacon and sausages sizzling while cinnamon buns and biscuits were baking. I never took that for granted like Kathy. To her, it was normal every day stuff. To me, it was heaven!

After breakfast, any bacon, sausage, buns or biscuits left over would be placed on a saucer in the middle of the stove for snacking later. I thought it the epitome of abundance to not only have such variety, but food left over! To this day, when I have it, I put any leftover bacon or whatever we have on a plate for snacking. So, placing the biscuits out this morning, the cockles of my inner child’s heart was warmed once more by a simple memory of abundance.

I looked to see how often ‘abundance’ appeared in the Bible. NIV -33, NASB -68, Amp – 68, King James – 66, New King James – 77, New Living – 17 and Young’s Literal Translation – 128. We hear about it in church, in prayers, people expecting abundance, etc. I found it interesting that not all uses in scripture were of blessings. For instance: Jeremiah 2:22 Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign LORD. Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. Many references talked about abundance being taken away.

This led me to thinking about what abundance means to different people. To a single mom struggling to keep food on the table, abundance may mean being able to buy groceries for a week. To another in a third world country, abundance may mean having clean water to drink. To one it may mean buying yet another pair of shoes because the 150 pair they already possess isn’t enough. Abundance is relative to the person and situation. When it comes to material abundance, it comes, it goes. Genesis 41:31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

The only abundance of real lasting value is that which brings us closer to our God. 1 Peter 1:2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

My prayer for you is Genesis 27:28  May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine.