40acts: Ready to ActSample

Act 5: Shop Double

Instead of trolley dashing through the aisles to get your supermarket shopping done as quickly as possible, consider shopping for someone else too. Offering to get supplies for a friend whose car is off the road, or for someone you know who is unwell or elderly, could be an absolute lifeline. As the slogan says, every little bit helps.

Often we take what God bluntly asks of us and shrink it down to good suggestions. The truth is, the Bible lays claim to how we practise our lives, in strong and bold instructions. 1 Timothy 6:18 ‘command[s] [us] to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share’. Proverbs talks about those who ‘pursue righteousness’ – not casually open to righteousness, not trying to coax ourselves into righteousness, but boldly running after righteousness. It is no suggestion, but a direction for life.

When life is at its busiest and most complex, it’s far harder to ‘pursue righteousness’ like this. There’s a great place to practise this: the supermarket. It doesn’t seem intuitive to chase generosity when we’re stuck behind a slow mover in the till queue. Or when a family of five blocks the aisle you really need to move your trolley through. It’s hard to pursue generosity when everyone’s in the way of your to-do list. 

And yet those moments are exactly where God is most likely to move in. It’s why we’re not just told in 1 Timothy to be ready or open for generosity – we’re actually commanded to be ‘generous’ and ‘rich in good deeds’. If we’re only half-heartedly open for the chance to be kind, we’ll never step in on an off-day to be the hands and heart of Christ for a struggling single mother scraping together pennies at the checkout. Sometimes, generosity means pursuit. Full hearts, course set, ready any time to be ‘rich in good deeds’.