The story is told of a man, let’s call him Peter, who received a new sports car as a gift from his brother. One day he drove it into the city and parked it on the street while he did some shopping. On returning to his car, loaded down with shopping bags, he saw a young homeless boy with wide eyes staring at the shiny, new vehicle.
As Peter approached the car the boy shyly asked, “Excuse me sir, is this your car?”
“Yes it is” Peter replied. “My brother gave it to me. It was a gift.”
The boy’s eyes lit up with surprise at the thought of such a generous and expensive gift. “Wow!” he said. “That’s incredible! I wish . . . I wish . . .” But he didn’t finish his sentence, so Peter finished it for him.
“Yes, I know son. You wish you had a brother like that.”
“No, no, sir. That’s not it,” the boy quickly replied. “I wish . . . I just wish I could BE a brother like that.”
Just like Abraham of old, we are each blessed to be a blessing.1
Jesus said it perfectly: “There’s a greater blessing in giving than in receiving.”2 Amen.
Julian Archer is the author of Help! I’ve Been Blessed! and writes from Toowoomba, Queensland.
