“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work…
“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God… They will glorify God because of your submission that comes from… the generosity of your contribution for them and all others, while they long for and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8,10-14
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.” Luke 12:48
God’s ways and thinking have always been higher than man’s, and one place this is particularly and obviously emphasized is in man’s view of bounty. Man thinks he’s in control of earning and increase, yet all we own is from God. Man invests and amasses for quantity’s sake within a limited perspective of time, while the Lord is concerned with motive and end and eternal value. Man holds onto, God gives away. The scriptures teach how to connect human drive with heavenly mindset, to think rightly here below about handling what the Lord entrusts to His children. The Lord always out-gives what man can produce or offer. (Proverbs 3:9-10; Ecclesiastes 11:1; Isaiah 55:8-9; 1 Corinthians 4:7; James 1:17)
The world has such an inverted view of numbers. We make much of accumulation and excess, and so little of sacrifice. In divine math, God calls us to abound in giving, and in heavenly measure we receive all the more. (Proverbs 11:24-25; Luke 6:38; Romans 12:6-8)
How cheerfully do I give? How loose is my hold on what the Lord has loaned to me? When have I prayed over my resources and released them for His kingdom? What is the Lord leading me to change about my attitude and execution of divine math?
“Lord, you love the cheerful giver,
who with open heart and hand
blesses freely, as a river
that refreshes all the land.
Grant us then the grace of giving
with a spirit large and free,
that our life and all our living
we may consecrate to thee.
Blest by thee with gifts and graces,
may we heed thy church’s call;
gladly in all times and places
give to thee who givest all.
Thou hast bought us, and no longer
can we claim to be our own;
ever free and ever stronger,
we shall serve thee, Lord, alone.
Thine own life thou freely gavest
as an off’ring on the cross
for each sinner whom thou savest
from eternal shame and loss.
Humbly now we bow before thee,
and our all to thee resign;
for the kingdom, pow’r, and glory
are, O Lord, forever thine.” ~Robert Murray (1898)
Lord, open my fists to praise You for Your astounding, ongoing bounty.
