As I was driving with my wife up I-495 to visit family, we were discussing the values and purpose of the business I was preparing to launch. While talking about my desire to deliver a service that blesses others in order for them to bless many more people, a passage from the Bible came to mind.

“‘But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you [God], and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you.’” (1 Chronicles 29:14-17)

This section of Scripture speaks about joyfully giving our resources and recognizing the true owner of what we possess. Everything we claim as ours actually belongs to the Lord.

God is the one who gave us hands to work and earn a wage. He is the one who supplies our provisions. He is the one that blesses us.

While this blessing of resources is something he gives to meet our needs, it is also something He desires us to use to bless others. In the book of Leviticus, we see a specific example of how God directed Israel to use the fruit of their land to serve people.

“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 23:22)

As I pondered these thoughts, I recognized the life of abundance that I enjoy through my relationship with Jesus. Yes, this life of fulfillment is to be celebrated and savored, but it is also meant to be shared.

Because God has blessed me with a fruitful harvest, I will bless others in the hopes that they, too, will reap not only a financially bountiful life, but a life of complete richness and satisfaction.