The Overflowing Harvest

Why True Thanksgiving Always Opens Your Hand (Not Just Your Heart)

Summary: Gratitude without generosity is incomplete. In this powerful reflection on 2 Corinthians 9:1-11, we discover that God doesn't just want our thanksgiving—He wants us to become conduits of His overflowing provision, trusting Him with both our seed (potential) and our bread (sustenance).

Picture this: You're sitting at your Thanksgiving table, surrounded by food you didn't grow, in a home you didn't build, wearing clothes you didn't weave, breathing air you didn't create. Everything—everything—came from somewhere beyond yourself.

Now here's the question that stops most of us in our tracks: If God has been that generous to you, why are you still holding back?

In a powerful Thanksgiving message from Dr. Richard Price at Schrader Lane Church of Christ, we're confronted with a truth that makes us uncomfortable and free at the same time: You cannot claim that you have thanksgiving or gratitude and hold your generosity.

The Apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth with pastoral urgency, reminding them of a promise they made—a collection for struggling believers in Jerusalem. But his words transcend that moment, speaking directly to us today. Let's look at his message in 2 Corinthians 9:8-10:

"And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others... For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you."

This isn't just about money in a collection plate. This is about understanding who God is, what He provides, and what He expects from those who truly understand His provision.

God Provides the Seed AND the Bread

Paul makes a crucial distinction that we often miss: God provides both seed and bread. Let that sink in for a moment.

Seed represents potential, promise, and possibility—the future God has planted in your hands. Bread represents sustenance, continuity, what you need today. As Dr. Price powerfully illustrated: "If you went to the store with just five dollars, you want to get bread. You want to get bread and milk, which means two things here. God gives you what you need to begin, and He also gives what you need to continue."

Think about your own life right now:

• The job you have? That's bread—sustaining you today. But the skills you're developing? That's seed for tomorrow.
• The relationships in your life? That's bread—nourishing your soul. But the character God is building in you through those relationships? That's seed for your future impact.
• The faith you're exercising right now? That's both—it sustains you today and grows into something greater tomorrow.

Here's what changes everything: This provision isn't coincidental—it's covenantal.

"Provision is a covenant thing," Dr. Price reminded us. "God is taking care of us because we are His. The cross obligated Himself to me, and that's why I boast about Him, because He obligated Himself to take care of me."

When you understand this—that God obligated Himself through the cross to care for His children—everything changes. This isn't luck. This isn't magic. This isn't even karma or the universe "paying you back." This is your Father keeping His covenant promises.

💡 Key Insight: Every good thing in your life—from your next breath to your biggest breakthrough—comes from God. When you truly believe this, thanksgiving isn't occasional; it's constant.

God Rarely Hands You Finished Results (He Gives You Seed-Form Potential)

Here's where many of us get frustrated with God: He rarely hands us finished results. Instead, He gives us seed-form potential.

"God rarely hands us finished results," Dr. Price explained. "The child of God finished result is always in the seed potential form because He wants to see if you will trust Him enough to let the seed take root and germinate."

Think about it:

• God didn't give Abraham a nation; He gave him a promise that required decades of faith.
• God didn't give David a throne; He gave him an anointing and then years of wilderness preparation.
• God didn't give the disciples a global church; He gave them the Great Commission and the Holy Spirit.

What seed has God placed in your hands right now?

Maybe it's a calling you haven't fully stepped into. Maybe it's a relationship that needs consistent investment. Maybe it's a ministry idea that seems too small to matter. Maybe it's simply the Word of God that you need to let take root in your daily life.

Here's the tension we all face: "I've seen a lot of people who could have been great things," Dr. Price observed, "and it goes back to the Lord... They forgot about who God was, and that God put the seed in their hand. They forgot that God was the one who picked them up and turned them around."

The trajectory toward greatness gets derailed when we forget who gave us the seed in the first place.

But here's the liberating truth: Multiplication is God's department. Obedience is yours.

Paul says God will "increase your resources." Notice the word: increase. Not just growth—multiplication. And multiplication is divine.

"Your assignment is obedience," Dr. Price declared. "His assignment is increase. The more I give to God, the more He can increase in my life. The more I can follow God's word, the more He can increase in my life."

You plant. You water. You obey. You trust. God gives the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

True Thanksgiving Shares, Not Stores

Now we come to the heart of Paul's message to Corinth—and to us: Don't hold back.

"Remember what you told me you were going to do, church in Corinth," Paul essentially says. "Remember the generosity. Please don't let me down."

Why does Paul care so much about their follow-through? Because generosity is evidence of conversion.

"When God is in you, He generously goes out of you," Dr. Price preached. "There is what God is doing in me that goes outside of me... Generosity flows out of me to the needs of those."

Let's be honest: We live in a culture of accumulation. We're taught to store, save, protect, and guard. But 2 Corinthians 9:6 flips that script entirely:

"Remember this: A farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop."

Sparse sowing = sparse harvest. Generous sowing = generous harvest. It's agricultural common sense applied to spiritual life.

But here's what makes this radical: Paul isn't talking about giving out of abundance. He's talking about giving from what you have, trusting God to multiply it.

Dr. Price recalled growing up in a church where believers moved people every Saturday, cut yards, served sacrificially—often doing more than they could comfortably afford. "What God did was, He multiplied what's alive in the love of God that comes out."

The principle is clear in 2 Corinthians 9:7:

"You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully."

Notice what God cares about: Not the amount, but the attitude. Not the size, but the spirit.

"God sets the amount," Dr. Price reminded us. "He says, just give something... from a place of faith. He says, don't be interested in the amount, I'm interested in the faith that says I'm going to do the very best I can."

What does cheerful, faith-driven giving look like practically?

• Rolling down your window to give $5 or $10 to someone in need—without demanding they fill out an application or prove their worthiness.
• Buying a Thanksgiving dinner for a family without requiring them to attend church first.
• Moving someone on Saturday, cutting a yard, offering a ride—simple acts of service that cost you something.
• Supporting the work of the church consistently, even when the amount feels small, because you trust God's multiplication.

Dr. Price made this powerful observation: "A grateful heart opens the hand. A thankful heart does something. It releases it and says this is what the church does. Don't even worry about it. Don't worry about giving it back to me."

That's the shift: from lending with interest to giving with release.

🌱 Pull Quote: "When you are someone who really has thanksgiving and a heart of generosity, you give it with a thankful release, knowing that even if somebody doesn't do the right thing, God is going to bless you because your heart was lodged in Him."

Your Generosity Becomes Someone Else's Worship

Here's a perspective that will transform how you view giving: When you give, others thank God for you.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:11 that God enriches believers "in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God."

Your generosity doesn't just meet needs—it produces worship.

Think about that for a moment. When you give—whether it's money, time, presence, or practical help—you're not just solving a problem. You're creating an opportunity for someone else to recognize God's faithfulness. You become the hands and feet through whom God blesses others.

"Have you ever done something for somebody else that you hadn't thought twice about," Dr. Price asked, "and you prayed over what you were doing... and you have seen them say something to you in return where they were thanking God that God allowed you to enter their life?"

"Do not take that lightly," he continued, "because the text says something here... They will thank God for you. They will thank God that God has intervened in your heart and your mind in such a way where you will bless other people."

This changes the equation entirely. You're not the hero of the story—you're the instrument through whom the Hero acts.

"The psalm says, 'Lord, if you can use anything, use me. Lord, if you can bless anything, bless me,'" Dr. Price reminded us. But then he challenges us to graduate from that prayer: "What I realize is if God is using us... it's because there are people... who have not forgotten who gave them the seed in the first place."

When you give from a place of remembering God's provision—recognizing that He gave you the seed, He gave you the bread, He gave you everything—your giving produces a ripple effect:

1. You worship God through your obedient generosity.
2. The recipient's need is met, demonstrating God's faithfulness.
3. The recipient worships God for His provision through you.
4. Others observe and see the church living as the hands and feet of Christ.
5. God is glorified as His character is displayed through His people.

Dr. Price shared a beautiful observation from recent outreach events at Schrader Lane Church of Christ: "I realized what was happening... I look at folks, I look at people as we were participating in this type of worship, this public worship... And I said, God, look at the sound that's coming from this. And what was that sound? It was people laughing. It was people smiling. Our guests were smiling and they were laughing."

That's what generosity produces: joy that overflows.

The Holistic Harvest: More Than Money

Before we close, we need to address a crucial point: God's increase isn't only material.

"Increase is holistic and it's not just material," Dr. Price taught. "You can be rich, my brothers and sisters, in peace. You can be rich in wisdom. You can be rich in strength and favor and in hope. But lastly, you can be rich in generosity."

This is where American prosperity teaching goes off the rails—it reduces God's blessing to dollars and possessions. But 2 Corinthians 9:8 promises something far more comprehensive:

"And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others."

Notice: "all you need" and "everything you need." Not necessarily everything you want, but everything you need to fulfill God's purpose for your life.

Dr. Price put it this way: "Some of us, God provided big homes and cars and stuff... You do that yourself. You get the good credit. What God is saying is, I can give you the understanding... I can give you the rooted salvation... He gives me all the stuff that makes me break the chains."

God provides what you need to become who He created you to be—and that's infinitely more valuable than material abundance.

Think about the increase God has produced in your life that has nothing to do with your bank account:

• Peace that transcends circumstances (Philippians 4:7)
• Wisdom to navigate complex decisions (James 1:5)
• Strength in seasons of weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
• Favor with God and people (Proverbs 3:3-4)
• Hope that anchors your soul (Hebrews 6:19)
• A generous spirit that reflects God's character (2 Corinthians 9:11)

"Sometimes I sit back," Dr. Price shared vulnerably, "and I walk to church and I look at folks... And I don't think about the blessing. I knew you were going to give me increase. I just had to wait on you."

That's the posture of trust that unlocks God's overflowing harvest in your life.

Starting Your Thanksgiving Week With Open Hands

As you enter Thanksgiving week, here's the paradigm shift Dr. Price calls us to embrace: Gratitude that doesn't open your hands isn't really gratitude at all.

He reminded us of a fading practice: "I remember a time when we would just pass the blessings. Everybody had to go around the table... And before anybody opened up any gifts, before anybody got seconds, thirds, fourths... somebody who was a member of the Church of Christ would sit down. And they would make you have prayer first."

That practice wasn't about religious ritual—it was about resetting perspective.

"She would force all of us," Dr. Price continued, "before you touch any of that good fried chicken, you ought to be able to open your mouth and say what God has done."

What has God done for you?

Can you trace His provision of seed—the potential, the possibilities, the promises He's planted in your life? Can you recognize His provision of bread—the sustaining grace that's kept you going day after day?

And here's the challenge: If you can recognize it, are you willing to release it?

"Why don't you start your Thanksgiving week off with this perspective and take it to your family," Dr. Price urged. "Somebody said, 'Oh, my daddy and mommy ain't going to listen.' Well, yeah, they're not going to listen to what you say. They can't help but watch the way you live."

Your lifestyle of generous thanksgiving will speak louder than any sermon you could preach.

The beautiful conclusion of Dr. Price's message offers hope even to those with the least: "If you've got to eat by yourself with two pieces and a biscuit, you can still give God thanks about your life until God decides to bless you."

That's it. That's the heart of true thanksgiving. Not waiting until you have abundance to be grateful, but being grateful with what you have—and watching God multiply it into an overflowing harvest.

This Week's Challenge: The Thanksgiving Release

Choose one act of generosity this week that requires "thankful release"—giving with no expectation of repayment or recognition:

• Buy groceries for a struggling family
• Give financially to someone in need (even if it's just $5 or $10)
• Invite someone who would otherwise be alone to your Thanksgiving table
• Volunteer at a food bank or shelter
• Do yard work or household repairs for an elderly neighbor

Remember: God loves a cheerful giver. Trust Him with the seed, and watch Him multiply the harvest.

Reflection Questions

1. Seed Inventory: What "seed-form potential" has God placed in your hands right now? How are you stewarding it through faith and obedience?
2. Thanksgiving Audit: Is your gratitude leading to generosity, or are you holding back what God wants you to release?
3. Multiplication Trust: What would change in your life if you fully believed that God multiplies what you surrender to Him?
4. Worship Ripple: Can you think of a time when someone's generosity toward you led you to worship God? How can you create that same experience for someone else this week?

📖 Listen / Watch / Learn More

This blog post is based on Dr. Richard Price's sermon "Overflowing Harvest: Gratitude, Generosity, and 2 Corinthians 9:1-11" delivered at Schrader Lane Church of Christ on November 23, 2025.

Want to dive deeper into biblical generosity? Visit Barry's Bureau for related lessons, Bible study resources, and practical tools for growing in your faith.

→ Explore more resources at BarrysBureau.org

💬 Join the Conversation

We'd love to hear from you! How has God challenged you to move from thanksgiving to generosity? What "overflowing harvest" have you witnessed when you trusted God with your seed and bread?

Share your story in the comments below, or connect with us on social media. Your testimony might be exactly what someone else needs to hear today.

Barry's Bureau

Inspiring Excellence in Christian Living

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