[aron]

There was a moment when 2 Cor 8 and 9 suddenly came alive to me. Paul was going on about giving, not taking. Look at Jesus - he gave everything. "He was rich, and he became poor on your behalf" (8:9) I was reading that "collection for the Lord's people" (8:4) in the context of Paul's repeated reminders (Rom 15:25-28, 1 Cor 15:1-3) elsewhere. And I remembered the charge of the Jerusalem Pillars to Paul: "remember the poor" which he said he'd eagerly do (Gal 2:9,10). And Paul and Silas 'dispensing' (RecV) in Acts 12:25 - foodstuffs, clothing, to the Jerusalem poor, brought from Antioch. And then Paul declaring boldly that he'd come back to Jerusalem with 'alms for my nation' in Acts 24:17 - gifts from the gentile churches far abroad.

Then I remembered Jesus repeatedly teaching, "give, and it shall be given to you" and "give to those who can't repay you" and suddenly it all connected - so THAT was God's economy that Paul was telling Timothy to promote in Ephesus! Because that's what Paul was promoting everywhere else: Galatia, Corinth, Rome - God's economy. Give to others - that is love. Love isn't words, or even feeling, it is doing, specifically it is giving. Give with a joyful heart. That is God's economy.

Suddenly it all gelled in my mind. Suddenly there was an understanding, congealed from disparate sources. It was the most spiritual, serene, and free-from-mind-control moment. God touched my mind and my thoughts, no longer was I passive receptacle for someone else's doctrine shoveled in. Understanding brought freedom from bondage, freedom and inexpressible peace.

The above isn't a doctrine or teaching but a story of experience. But then everyone else has experience too, and interpretation per 1 Cor 14:26, and so I don't push mine as objective truth. But still, it was pretty cool. It was very much like that moment when the teacher was tracing a 'W' across Helen Keller's palm, holding her other hand under the spigot. Suddenly a synaptic connection was made, and a God-given brain fired to life.