Mary sat at the table in her small apartment, staring at the pile of bills in front of her. She had just lost her job and didn’t know how she was going to make ends meet. As she sat there, she heard a knock at the door. It was her neighbor, Mrs. Jenkins, who had been a friend to her for years.
Mrs. Jenkins handed Mary a small envelope and said, "I felt the Lord leading me to give this to you. I don’t know what it is for, but I hope it helps."
Mary opened the envelope and inside found a hundred-dollar bill. Tears filled her eyes as she hugged Mrs. Jenkins, grateful for the kindness of her neighbor.
Later that day, Mary went to the grocery store to buy some food. As she walked through the aisles, she saw a woman with several young children. The woman was counting her change at the checkout, trying to figure out how to pay for her groceries.
Mary felt the Lord prompting her to help, so she approached the woman and offered to pay for her groceries. The woman was surprised and grateful, and Mary knew that the hundred-dollar bill had been meant for this moment.
As Mary left the store, she felt a sense of peace about her situation. She knew that God would provide for her and that her sacrifice had been worth it.
The next day, Mary received a call for a job interview. She got the job and was able to pay her bills and provide for herself once again. She knew that it was all because of the seeds of sacrifice that she had sown.
In John 12:24, Jesus says, "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." Mary’s sacrifice was like a seed that had fallen to the ground and died, but it produced many seeds of blessing for herself and others.