Let Me Give You A Tip

W

orking in a restaurant provided dozens of opportunities to learn about people. You get to know their likes and dislikes, their preferences, their quirks, their attitudes, and their moods. Every time I waited tables, I always learned something new about my customers and, invariably, something new about myself as well.  Everything I learned was useful but not everything was pleasant or easy to accept.

One of the most difficult things to master was the concept of the tip.  Most people figure up a certain percentage of the bill and leave that as a tip.  Depending upon the level of service, the tip may be more or less.  In extreme cases, customers refuse to leave anything, expressing their dissatisfaction with the service or representing their desire not to leave a tip at all.  The danger for a waiter or waitress is judging people according to the amount of money left on the table.  I’ve seen this happen repeatedly.  Servers would become upset because a customer left a smaller tip than they anticipated and the end result was anger and bitterness on the part of the waiter or waitress.

However, if the server considered the amount of the tip as a percentage of the whole bill, he might be pleasantly surprised to discover he was well compensated for his service.  I learned this from a wonderful customer I used to wait on.  No matter what the amount of his bill, he always tipped at twenty per cent.  If he ordered a cup of coffee, he tipped twenty per cent and if he ordered a large meal, the tip was the same fraction of the ticket.  No matter what, he remained consistent in his giving and he was generous.  When I finally realized that I should look at my tips as a percentage of the ticket instead of a fixed amount, I became more encouraged and humbled.

In Malachi 3:6a, God teaches us a very important principle about himself.  This passage of scripture reads, "I the Lord do not change.”  Yes, you read that correctly.  God does not change.  No matter the circumstances, no matter the need, no matter how small or how large our burden, God always provides generously for us. 

Our problem lies in how we perceive his gift.  We fall into the trap of assuming we know how God should address our needs and how he should resolve our difficulties.  When he doesn’t follow our line of thinking, we become bitter or angry, essentially believing He has refused to honor our request.  However, we must change our perspective and see that God’s giving is always consistent, always generous, and always available.  It is not based on our actions, works, or on our belief that we deserve it.  Our actions are never good enough, we can’t work enough to earn it, and we never deserve it. But God gives anyway, and He always gives at one hundred per cent.

The cross of Jesus Christ is proof of God’s grace and generous giving to us.  While we were still steeped in our sins, incapable of having a relationship with God, He gave His son so that we might have forgiveness and eternal life.  This must become our perspective.  We must understand that God has given us His best and that He continues to do so based on our relationship through Jesus Christ.  God did not calculate the smallest percentage needed to offer us salvation.  Instead, He gave us His all, one hundred per cent, holding nothing back.  What kind of tip are you giving God today?  Is it all you have or just a mere percentage?