During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

There have been times in life when I have experienced some challenges. But I have not lived through famine where I have no idea where my next meal is coming from. Neither have I dealt with the extreme sickness of a child. When these types of situations arise, they can shock and almost paralyze us.

For the Christians in the early church, they had recently gone through the extreme persecution of the church by the Jewish leaders. The Jewish Christians saw hardship in having to move to new cities. And then they saw God’s Spirit fall on the Gentiles in amazing ways. It was a roller coaster ride of sorts.

Now we see some prophets of God coming to Antioch and prophesying that a great famine would fall on the entire Roman Empire. I think the temptation here would be to hoard resources. To store up food and gold and silver so that they would be provided for. The Greek Christians in Antioch may have done this, but they also thought of their brothers and sisters in Christ in Judea. They were in need and likely would not be able to survive the coming famine. They did more than think of them, they each gave a gift of resources (provisions or money) to them. Imagine the encouragement that this brought to the Christians in Judea. It was a gift that had a very powerful impact!

I have recently been the recipient of some very powerful and loving gifts from those around me. When they heard I was out of work, they gave money to help my family pay my bills. This act of kindness encouraged us (my family of 6) that though we experienced some hardship, God will take care of us through our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We live in times that are very perilous. Justice is teetering on a cliff of anarchy, inflation is rising, jobs are lost, and moral decline is championed and celebrated. So what will we do? Will we protect only ourselves and hoard our resources and time? Or will we seek God and trust him as we serve others and bring them to Jesus? In a broken world — one increasing in its evil — the light shines brighter! Our gifts to the Lord shine brighter! Come, brothers and sisters, let us give generously to the Work of God!

Lord, I don’t have much money to give in my current situation, but I will give my encouragement and time to those you are pursuing. I will model and mentor them in Jesus’ ways. I offer up this service as a sacrifice to you.