“If God Were Your Broker”
October 7, 2022
Proverbs 11:24-25
24One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
25Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered.
I am pretty sure that no business school in America would teach the law of economics presented in the above verses. Proverbs 11:24-25 is God’s financial tip which asserts that giving away financial assets will increase your net worth, while holding back money leads to poverty. In other words, give your money away in order to get ahead financially!
Solomon compared two men in this proverb. The one man scatters his money by giving it to godly causes, and he increases in financial prosperity. Though he is giving money away, his accounts keep growing. The other man hoards and protects his assets by not giving when he should, or as much as he should, and he gets poorer and poorer. When we are generous with what God has given to us, we will be enriched. In God’s economy, we cannot give and bless others without being blessed ourselves.
During my first year of teaching in a Christian school, I had attended a conference for Christian educators. One evening, during the conference, a group of students from the various schools attending the two-day event, put on a play. I do not recall what the play was about, but I do remember that during the intermission, a collection was taken to provide scholarship money for students who could not afford their Christian school tuition. I was seated in the back of the auditorium which allowed plenty of time for me to get my contribution ready. However, when I looked in my wallet, all I had was a $20 bill and I couldn’t imagine that God wanted me to give that much. It took several minutes for the collection basket to reach me so I had several minutes to “convince” God that He really didn’t want me to give this $20 to the cause, as good as it was. After all, how would I make it to the next paycheck without any cash?
Longer story shorter, God won the convincing match and when the collection basket reached my seat, I reluctantly dropped the sum total of my cash holdings into the basket. I left the conference with an empty wallet and a heart full of worry as to how I was going to survive until my next paycheck.
When I returned home, I discovered a check for $2,000 in my mailbox. The check was from a stock investment my father had made for me and then sold – an investment about which I had completely forgotten. Gone were my worries about how to survive until my next paycheck as my $20 investment in students’ tuition, was rewarded one hundredfold. As Proverbs 11 teaches, my giving resulted in greater riches (one gives freely, yet grows all the richer), and my blessing others brought blessings upon myself (one who waters will himself be watered).
Solomon compared the foolish man with the wise man in Proverbs 11. The foolish man looked out for himself and did not give what he should have. The wise man gave generously to God and was enriched. Our heavenly Father saw the different spirit in each man, and rewarded them accordingly.
If God were your broker, He would tell you to give generously to noble and righteous causes. He would say to give your money away to get ahead financially. However, no matter how far you progress in the grace of giving, Jesus Christ remains the unmatchable Giver. He left the wealth of heaven to make the supreme sacrifice to deliver you from eternal poverty and grant you eternal riches.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9