Fresh Mannaby Pastor Tim Burt"What did you learn in Children's Church today, Tommy?" asked his mother, Emily."Pastor Jamie read us the story of the boy who gave his five fish and two loaves of bread to Jesus, and it miraculously fed over five thousand people, and they even had more leftovers than what they started with."What was the lesson Pastor Jamie was trying to teach you?" his mother asked?"That God teaches us to be generous, and He blesses us elsewhere in our lives," replied Tommy."Do you believe that?" asked his mom. "I don't know," said Tommy. "I never heard it or thought about it before."Tommy Tinker was a curious 9-year-old whose favorite hobby was collecting things. He loved everything—shiny buttons, colorful marbles, rocks shaped like animals, and more. He had a problem that bothered his mother. He never shared. His mother often said, “Tommy, your room is overflowing, and you keep adding more. If you are going to be a collector, you need to learn to bless others, or you'll become a hoarder and run out of room to keep and appreciate what you have! You should give as much as you take.” Tommy would smile and hold his treasures tighter.One day, while Tommy was walking over to a new school friend's house, he stumbled upon something strange—a tiny, old-fashioned shop he had never seen before. Above the door, a sign read, “The Trade & Trinket Emporium: You Give, You Get!” Intrigued, Tommy wandered in.Behind the counter was a wrinkled old man with a long flowing beard. “Ah, welcome, welcome! I’m Mr. Gibbles, and I see you’re a collector,” he said, eyeing the marbles in Tommy's hand.Tommy nodded, staring wide-eyed at the shelves packed with wonders: glowing gemstones, toys that moved by themselves, and gadgets that whirred and buzzed.“How much for the shiny one there?” Tommy asked, pointing to a dazzling blue stone unlike anything he had ever seen.Mr. Gibbles smiled. "I've been blessed in life and have all the money I need. In this shop, you don’t buy things with money. You give something, and in return, you get something. The more you give, the more you get.”Tommy frowned. “But I don’t want to give anything. I just want to get the shiny stone!”The old man chuckled. “That’s not how it works here, lad. Try giving first. You never know what you might get.”Reluctantly, Tommy reached into his pocket and pulled out a single marble. “Here,” he muttered, pushing it across the counter.Mr. Gibbles inspected the marble carefully, then handed Tommy a small rubber ball. Tommy’s face fell. A rubber ball? That wasn’t nearly as cool as the stone! But, being curious, Tommy bounced it on the ground.BOING! The ball shot up to the ceiling, bounced off the walls, ricocheted through the shelves, and hit Tommy right in the head. He giggled despite himself. This was kind of fun! But still, he wanted that shiny stone.“Okay, what if I give more?” he asked. “Let’s find out!” Mr. Gibbles winked.Tommy reached into his pockets and unloaded all his marbles, buttons, and shiny rocks onto the counter. Mr. Gibbles beamed, clapped his hands, and presented Tommy with a magnificent toy train that puffed real steam and had a whistle that sounded like a bird singing.Tommy was thrilled. “Wow, this is the coolest thing ever!” But he still glanced longingly at the shiny blue stone. He wanted it badly, but he was out of treasures to give.As he turned to leave, something unexpected happened. A group of kids from school rushed in, curious about the noise they heard from Tommy’s bouncing ball. They saw all the marvelous toys and begged him to share.Tommy hesitated, but remembered what Pastor Jamie had said about giving, and then thought about this weird shop he was in. For the first time, he felt a strange urge to let others have some of his fun. He handed the ball to one kid and the toy train to another. He gave away every toy, and his heart swelled with joy as he watched his friends laugh and play.Just as the last toy was handed out, Mr. Gibbles appeared beside Tommy with the shiny blue stone. “Here, lad. You’ve learned the real secret of the shop. When you give freely, you receive more than you could ever imagine.”Tommy’s eyes widened. “But I don’t have anything left to give!”“Ah, but you gave from your heart,” Mr. Gibbles said. “And that’s worth more than anything in your pockets.”As Tommy left the shop with the glowing stone in hand, he remembered the words of his mother: “Give, and it shall be given unto you” (Luke 6:38). And for the first time Tommy thought about sharing some of the many collectables in his room and actually felt excited about it. And as he told his mother about it, she knew she was witnessing a miracle that would change Tommy's life forever!Moral to this story: Most people have things sitting in storage but of little value to them. There are multiple blessings in getting rid of it. There is someone praying somewhere for it. Let your sit-arounds become someone's treasure and be blessed by God for it!Proverbs 19:17 (NIV): "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done."In His love,Pastor Tim Burt
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