1 Samuel 16:20
“And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul.”

In this time of high inflation everywhere, finding ways to cut costs has become the default, and anything unbudgeted is looked at with great care and consideration.

This is reasonable and correct. And in a logical world, that’s the right thing to do. But logic is not always right!

Hospitality and generosity are some of the things that suffer most at times like this because they are often unbudgeted, and may happen quite suddenly.

In simple language, it’s good to be generous when there’s plenty and when it’s well planned out, but it sounds illogical to be generous when things are tough, and when the demand is unexpected.

But as with most kingdom values, generosity does not follow simple logic. The truly generous seem to flourish most when things are tight. It seems that such people tend to give more lavishly when they don’t have. That is the irony and paradox of these weird people.

I have met poor people who have gone to such extreme lengths to host us whenever we visited them. It was so embarrassing. Why do they do this? Because they have a weird DNA. They have a good kind of weirdness. Not all weirdness is bad weirdness.

There is a weirdness that’s extreme in love and generosity.

I also know people who, maybe it’s their cultural orientation, who are very limited in generosity and offer hospitality very sparingly. As pilgrims and kingdom citizens, we must reject this culture, and live in lavish generosity and open-handedness.

God has one and only begotten Son. Yet He gave Him as a sacrifice for mankind. He did not spare Him. He let Him suffer and die, out of a generous love for us all. This is our Father’s DNA, and we must imitate it.

Generosity without sacrifice is not generosity.

I don’t think Jesse was a wealthy man. But when the king sent for his son, rather than feel entitled, he sent his son with a “donkey loaded” with food and gifts for the king. What a strange man! In his seeming poverty, he still chose to give to a king who was taking his son away from him, and who physically speaking, had no need.

Why did Jesse do this? Because he belonged to the clan of weird lovers; men who give and give, even when they don’t have or have to.

Do you belong to this clan? Are you a giver; who gives even when it hurts? Or are you a stingy miserly person who over-calculates before sharing what you have with others?

If you are a pilgrim, you must have and manifest this weird DNA. It’s a kingdom of God DNA. And even if nobody appreciates you, certainly, your Father in heaven very much does. He rejoices with the generous.

And even if the world calls you foolish, don’t worry about that. You are in good company with all the Saints who lived and loved before you.