Deuteronomy 16:17

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"... as he is able." Deu 16:17

This is the law of giving in the Old Testament, and it is the law of giving in the New Testament. It is a just and equitable law. It devolves a supreme responsibility upon the giver. It makes him an accountant in the sight of God. He has to add up his resources and diligently to consider their sum, and then to give as he may be able. This law does not relate to money only, but to time, influence, and sympathy. Nothing would be so easy for many men as to buy themselves off, by the gifts of money, from all further service. Simply because of the abundance of their wealth, money is as nothing to them, and the giving of it is not felt. It is only when the giving is touched with the pain of sacrifice that it becomes of any value in the sanctuary. Still, most of us have to begin with the donation of money, but no man has to end with it. There is no niggardliness in the promises of God in relation to the true giver, of whatever nature his gifts may be. "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." Jesus Christ noticed what gifts were thrown into the treasury, and he regarded them all i a the light of proportion. "God is not unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labour of love." Not a cup of cold water, is to go unrewarded if given to a disciple in the name of Christ. These grand moral standards of gift and service constitute a powerful defence of the heavenly origin of the Bible.