Freely Give

Author: Joseph

Date: March 24, 2019

God created the world and everything in it. He placed Adam in the garden of Eden and gave him a wife. He then provided all of the man’s needs and even after the man sin, God still granted mercy toward him and his descendants. When mankind began to forget about God, they deceived themselves into thinking they could sustain their lives on their own. Whenever they prospered, they took pride in their own strength and forgot God, who had provided all of their needs ever since the beginning.

"...you shall freely open your hand..."

The Lord instructed His people through Moses, “If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks” (Deuteronomy 15:7-8).

The Israelites were inheriting the land of promise, given to them by God, after being enslaved in Egypt for hundreds of years. The Israelites had been slaves, having nothing of their own that could not be taken away by Pharaoh. When they were brought out of Egypt, they relied on God for daily provision every day through the wilderness. When they were about to enter the land of promise, which God was providing them and which they had no way of obtaining on their own, God reminded them that they were to freely give to the poor just as they freely received the provision from God.

Freely giving is not something a hardened heart is comfortable with. It means giving and expecting nothing in return as well as being content with never being rewarded by anyone for doing so.

A person’s heart also should not be grieved by giving. Giving with a grieving heart means to give reluctantly or without fully releasing whatever is being given. If the heart is grieved, then the motives were not right and the giver is worse off than they were before they gave to the poor. Giving should make a person’s heart rejoice because they know that God is providing for someone else through them.

Freely giving is an easy task when we understand that God is the one who provides everyone’s needs.

Moses also stated a sad truth, “For the poor will never cease to be in the land” (Deuteronomy 15:11), but he was not offering an excuse for people to give up on generosity by saying this. Giving to the poor does not remove all poverty. For every poor person that is helped, there may be another that falls into troubles and becomes poor themselves. Moses was saying the opposite, that because there will always be poor in the land, the people were instructed, “therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land’” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

Moses warned Israel that God would hear the cry of those who were in need when those who were capable of giving to them did not do so. Since God hears the cry of the poor, God also uses the poor to test us. Will we understand that He is the provider of all creation and obey Him by giving freely to those in need?

Are you able to freely give or has your heart been hardened by selfishness? Do you look for your advantage when giving to the poor? Do you freely let go of what you give or do you give reluctantly? The poor among you are testing your heart and your obedience to God. Realize that God is the provider of all His creation and rejoice in giving freely whenever you are given the opportunity. Freely you have received, now freely give.

Bible Passage: Deuteronomy 15:7-11

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB). www.lockman.org