Quote for the Day
“Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart…”
Today's Prayer
This week pray for those traveling and those at home that they can not only experience God’s blessing, but that they can share it as well. Ask God to speak clearly to those traveling this week to see His blessing in their daily activity.
Deuteronomy 14:22 – 15:23
Deuteronomy 14:22 – 15:23 (NIV)Deuteronomy 1422 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. 24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice. 27 And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, 29 so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.Deuteronomy 151 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. 4 However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free. 13 And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. 14 Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were slaves in and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.16 But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, 17 then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant.18 Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because his service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.19 Set apart for the LORD your God every firstborn male of your herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn of your oxen to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep. 20 Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose. 21 If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. 22 You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer. 23 But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.
Message
For many of us, this passage can be very difficult. The focus seems to be what we are to give and give up. We are required to give 10% (the first 10%, no less), to give back our slaves, to forgive our loans at the seventh year. This seems to make accumulating wealth a very difficult thing, if we have to keep giving it away. If we know who really owns it, and who is so generous to us, it might make our own generosity come that much easier.In viewing “giving” from God’s perspective it becomes clear. This passage is NOT teaching communism (everyone owns all things equally) but rather it is teaching us that God owns it all, and HE is the one who is generous with us, so we need to be generous with others: ALWAYS, with all things, and without question.This passage contains a real dilemma that points out this truth. In verse 4 of chapter 15 God states that there should be no poor among the people, because He will richly bless them. Then in verse 11 He commands the people to be generous because there will always be poor among them. How can both be true? They are a reflection of how God has provided for His will to be accomplished. His expectation is that He provides for all men, and part of His provision (generosity) moves through the link of others as it reaches its final destination. The things we are given by a generous God, He expects us to pass on to others with that same fullness of generosity. This is the way that all receive what God has purposed. Although this passage is about wealth and possessions, this principle applies to all of life. We are not equally blessed with possessions, talents and other gifts. They are all made to share generously with those God places around us. It is a heart of generosity that lets God’s heart be fully seen and experienced. Is your heart as generous as God’s?