Yankel, a Jewish baker, relates how he survived the Holocaust.

A teenager at the time, he was riding in a freezing cold boxcar with many others on their way to Auschwitz. Without food or blankets for days on end, everyone was deathly cold.

Sitting next to a beloved older man from his hometown, the teen noticed that the man was shivering from head to toe. He looked terrible. So Yankel wrapped his arms around the man and began rubbing him all over — arms and legs, face and neck. He begged the man to hang on while he massaged him all through the long, freezing night. At last, morning came and warmth began to filter into the car.

The tired boy ceased his efforts and glanced around at the others. He was horrified to see only frozen bodies! No one else had made it through the night, just the old man, because someone had kept him warm, and the teen because he was warming someone else.

When we give to others, we participate in a law of life. Money, time, and energy spent on someone in need is part of God’s plan to bless us as well. It’s not a self-serving this-for-that relationship, but simply a natural balance in godly living and giving.