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II Corinthians 9.10, 11 (NIV)
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.
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| If we receive wealth in return for our giving, it is not so that we can live the high life but so that we can give more.* |
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This
passage is an essay on supply and demand – in God’s economy.
First,
God supplies seed for the sower to plant, and bread to feed him while he waits
for the harvest. In the course of the harvest process, he actually increases
the supply of seed which yields an increase in the harvest of righteousness,
which is our reward for benevolence.* This makes us rich so that we
in turn can be generous. Our generosity results in thanksgiving to God which is
his required repayment for the seed he supplied in the first place!
God
not only supplies what we need to do good works, but he also provides the means
and the ability to do it again. His resources don’t get used up. It’s a very
simple formula: give equals blessing equals more to give. This is not a recipe for
gaining wealth; we are not promised that give
equals blessing equals more for me to keep.
One
final note on God’s economic strategy: Paul says that God rewards our
generosity so that we can be generous on every
occasion. How does that fit in with our tendency to be charitable just on
special occasions? For special causes? To those we deem to be deserving? Perhaps
we need to rethink our approach to benevolent giving.
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| There is no risk in generous giving.* |
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