The 40Acts Easter Challenge involves one act each day to show God’s love to others. Most challenges will be divided into three categories. Green: easiest, Yellow: medium Red: more difficult. We want to challenge you to pick at least one of them each day.
Most people love surprises (of the nice variety!) so plan a generosity ambush for someone today.
Today’s Challenge:
Make ’em smile: It doesn’t take much to make someone feel special. A treat through in their mailbox or on their desk, or an unexpected compliment, can go a long way.
Do the unexpected: If you don’t normally cook, surprise your friends or family with a meal. Don’t forget acquaintances or strangers. Put money in a parking meter for someone else.
Go Crazy: Your imagination is the limit. You might write someone a note of encouragement today, take them out for an unexpected treat or even throw them a party ‘just because’. This is the day to go all out, no reasons required.
“Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” 1 Corinthians 1:22-25
A friend’s spontaneous laughter can be so infectious, the only surprise is that we don’t do more to provoke them. When was the last time you found yourself so overwhelmed by a shared moment that neither of you could hold yourself back? Was it a joke perhaps? – I often find the more absurd the gag, the funnier it becomes. You see, deliberately trying to surprise someone can actually be an act of great generosity. I’m not talking about sneaking up to make them jump out of their skin. I mean an act of grace. Grace is always unexpected, unearned, undeserved, unconditional, unquestioning, uninhibited. In short, it is always a surprise.
This is why the Christian gospel is the world’s most monumental surprise. After all, who could possibly have predicted that God’s global salvage-plan would be achieved by a first-century northern carpenter wandering around Judaea in poverty, only to get executed as a Roman criminal? God is seriously in the surprise business. And no one gets close to him on that front. But for those who get it, God’s surprise results in shouts, laughter and spontaneous joy. Any other
grace-surprises are but a pale reflection.
So you want to become like God this Lent? Why not start by doing or saying something unexpected, unearned, undeserved, unconditional, unquestioning, uninhibited, for someone else?
Today. And every day
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