Scripture

Be sure to give to them without any hesitation. When you do this, the Lord your God will bless you in everything you work for and set out to do.

Observation

Moses says there shouldn’t be poor in the land because the Lord will bless the nation. But he goes on to say that there always will be poor, even in a blessed land. These people could be foreigners, or perhaps just not on board with the Lord’s program.

The Lord doesn’t want the poor among them to suffer, instructing the blessed people to be generous to them, not to look down on them. The law speaks often of generosity, first to the Lord with their first-fruits, and to the poor by leaving grain unharvested in the fields for the poor to glean.

Generosity is expected by the Lord, as He is generous to the people. Stinginess is condemned as sin, while generosity is noted as the key that unlocks the blessing of God on everything they do.

Application

Give without hesitation. Be generous. Freely lend them as much as they need.

This is not institutionalized giving, to be done by the state or by the church. This is personal. It is not giving to get. It is part of “thy kingdom come”, God extending His grace through His people.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for all your blessings, for your generosity to us. May your heart of generosity reach through my heart into my world.

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