Wordsmith. 2 Corinthians 9.

Sometimes when I'm writing these entries, I have an idea about what I want to say, but not always exactly how I'm going to express that idea. It's often the case that as the words hit the screen, they trigger other words in my mind. Or ways to use those word again in the rest of the sentence or paragraph. This is probably the mark of a mediocre writer. Or maybe a blog writer -- where timing is of the essence. Looking back through this blog, I see, for instance, sentences like these:

Here are a couple more thoughts about the chapter, to prompt your own thoughts.

And Christ's church isn't supposed to about division, but about multiplication.

Each of these verbal tests was designed to trap Jesus into either saying something the leaders could object to or something the people would object to.

(I admit that I actually like the line about division and multiplication, but it definitely wasn't planned.)

On certain days, as I read Paul, I wonder whether this same thing happens to him. As he's writing/dictating about giving, he happens upon the thought "God loves a cheerful giver," and that leads to "God is able to make all grace overflow...", and then this naturally flows into "god who provides seed..." Or does Paul work with more intentionality -- thinking completely through the idea of giving, before ever writing about this gift that he wants to make sure is being prepared as promised. And in that process, realizing that he wants to make sure he tells the Corinthians that we all need to remember that God is the ultimate giver.

Either way, we have this lovely thought expressed in verse 10, "Now God who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your supply of seed and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow." God provides the seed, He provides the life process that causes the seed to grow into grain that can be turned into bread, and He provides results beyond what the gift of the Corinthians will do in meeting the immediate needs of the Christians in Jerusalem. God is even the provider of the spirit of giving, as Paul writes in the next couple of verses. J. B. Phillips translated these verses in this way:

"He who gives the seed to the sower and turns that seed into bread to eat, will give you the seed of generosity to sow, and, for harvest, the satisfying bread of good deeds well done. The more you are enriched by God the more scope there will be for generous giving, and your gifts, administered through us, will mean that many will thank God. For your giving does not end in meeting the wants of your fellow-Christians. It also results in an overflowing tide of thanksgiving to God. Moreover, your very giving proves the reality of your faith, and that means that men thank God that you practise the Gospel that you profess to believe in, as well as for the actual gifts you make to them and to others. And yet further, men will pray for you and feel drawn to you because you have obviously received a generous measure of the grace of God." (2 Corinthians 9:10-14 Phillips New Testament)

Nice wordsmithing, Paul.