The Measure You Use

Picture a grain seller at a market. A customer holds out the fold of his robe, and the seller pours grain into it. He presses it down with his fist and shakes it so the grain settles, and then he keeps pouring until it spills over the edge and onto the floor.

That is the picture Jesus uses, and you know the kind of counting He sets it against. Most of us keep a running score, whether or not we would call it that. We remember who owes us an apology, who got more than they deserved, and what we gave that never came back.

Look at where this verse sits. It belongs to a paragraph about how you treat people, so it was never meant as a fundraising verse. The sentence just before it says, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." Then comes "Give, and it shall be given unto you." So the giving here is giving to other human beings, and the overflowing grain is a picture of what comes back to the giver. The second half of the verse is a warning drawn from the same picture: "For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." To "mete" means to measure out. The cup you use on other people is the cup that comes back to you full. If you choose a small one, you have chosen the size of your own portion.

Someone probably came to mind while you were reading that. This week, hand that person the wide measure in something small and real. When a message from them could be read two ways, read it kindly. Send an invitation. Give money and never mention it again. You are choosing the cup, and Jesus has promised that a generous one comes back to you "running over."

Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 139 is Turn Us Again (Psalm 80:3).

All 365 readings in Daily Manna