As RECIPIENTS of God’s GRACE, be ‘MORE’ GENEROUS!
February 25
Bible Reading: Deuteronomy Chapters 13-15
As RECIPIENTS of God’s GRACE, be ‘MORE’ GENEROUS!
"If there is among you a poor man of
your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is
giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor
brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him
sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. For the poor will never cease from
the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall open your hand wide to
your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.'" (Deut
15:7-8, 11)
God’s grace
to the Israelites in freeing them from Egyptian slavery was a model for all
Israelites to follow in relation to the poor among them. In the above passage,
Moses is instructing the Israelites to remember their former poverty and
servitude to the Egyptians (v. 15), be thankful to God for the riches that they
have received from God’s bounty and use these gifts to assist the poor among them.
This teaches
us an important lesson: since we have
experienced the grace of God in abundance we should be more generous than
others. We should not “harden our
hearts” nor “shut our hands” when
dealing with poor people (v. 7). We should not harbor an evil thought that may
include hesitation or refusal to help (v. 9) nor should we have a grudging
spirit (v. 10). Justice and righteousness
must always be combined with compassion!
In this
connection, the Jewish people have been deservedly well known for caring for
their own throughout history. Paul says the same thing in 2 Corinthians 9:7
that Moses says in verse 10: “God loves a
cheerful giver.” This verse is not only a command but a promise, for God is
no man’s debtor. “The generous soul will
be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself” (Prov.
11:25).
The blessings
of God should thus motivate us to be a blessing and a help to other less
fortunate people among us. Moses mentions the blessing of God many times in
this chapter (vv. 4, 6, 10, 14, 18). God has opened His hand generously to us,
and we should open our hands widely to others (v. 8). He blesses us so that we might be a blessing (Gen. 12:2). Not only
must we have generous hands, but we should cultivate glad hearts as we share
(v. 10).
The greatest gift of all is the gift of ourselves because we love one
another (vv. 16–17). First, we give
ourselves to the Lord (Rom. 12:1–2) and then to one another in loving service (2 Cor. 8:1–5).
