Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours forevermore from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I am glad to welcome you to the month of February 2022. My prayer is that God will cause His grace to abound towards you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work in the week and throughout this year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now, as God causes us to increase in good things, it is only wise and proper of us to also increase in our generosity towards Him. As we see in the bible, His desire is that we may excel in the grace of giving (2Cor 8:7). In other words, what God wants for us is that we will someday leave the realm of struggling to give to Him or to anyone He may want us to give to and come to that place where we give freely, generously and joyously. Is that to say that one cannot give freely, generously and joyously in their state of poverty? No! Or is it to say that God judges people’s giving only on the basis of the quantity of what they give? No!
For example, as Paul mentions in a letter to the Corinthians, there was a time that members of the churches of God in Macedonia gave for the cause of the gospel in their state of poverty. Yet they gave generously and joyously. In fact, they begged this apostle to allow them to give at that time. Also, we have in the bible accounts of a widow that gave to God out of her poverty. Yet the Lord Jesus said that she gave more than all the others that day, for she gave everything she had to live on. (Cf. Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4; 2Cor 8:1-5)
So, nothing is wrong with giving to God out of our poverty, as long as our hearts are right. However, there is a level of generosity we cannot attain, if we are in poverty. Yes, our hearts may be right and willing to give. But we cannot give what we do not have, if we are in poverty. And we cannot give in surpassing ways, if we are in poverty. But God wants us to get to that point in our lives where we give in surpassing ways.
For example, when He first asked the children of Israel to give for the building of His tabernacle, they gave in surpassing ways. As the bible shows us, it was so serious that Moses, at some point, had to give an order that nobody should bring any more offering to the Lord, for they already had more than enough to do the work. And as the bible also shows us, nobody was forced to bring anything to God at that time. So, all the people that gave were those who were willing and happy to give. Yet they gave more than what was needed. (Cf. Ex 35:20-36:7)
Now why were they able to do that, though they were at that time in the wilderness? It was because they were rich in earthly possessions. They could not give to God like that when they were slaves and in poverty in Egypt, even if they loved to. But on the day God led them out of Egypt, He also made them rich with the wealth of Egypt. So, when He eventually asked them to make out some offerings to Him, they did not disappoint Him. Instead, they gave more than He required. (Cf. Ex 12:33-36)
In like manner, we too can get to that point in our lives where we can give more than God requires of us. But do we want to be there? That is the question. Do we want to leave the realm of struggling to give for God’s cause for the realm of always giving more than enough to Him, to His servants and to all those He wants us to give to? If we want to, then, let us consider this prayer of Paul for the Corinthians and say ‘Amen’ to it with all our hearts: “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2Cor 9:10-11NIV)
Do have a prosperous February 2022.
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