Your Daily Slice

Elul 16

On Giving

“…but rather let him labor, working what is good with the hands, THAT HE MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE TO THE ONE WHO HAS NEED.” (Eph 4:28 HRB, emphasis mine)

I recently spoke with a young lady of whom I am very fond, and when I asked her, “how are you folks doing”, her reply was “living the dream!”  It is unfortunate that the ‘dream’ she is living is astronomical house payments to pay for the house that she and her husband recently had built, a new car payment, a new truck payment, as well as a payment for the boat they enjoy in their leisure time.  Both husband and wife work – they have to – and virtually every penny they make goes toward reducing the debt they have.  Would they be able to help someone who might have an emergency need?  I doubt it.

James, the brother of our Messiah, gave us some strong words to ponder: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask evilly, in order to spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3)  Is it wrong to have ‘things’ that give us pleasure?  No, I do not believe that it is; however, when our entire purpose in gainful employment is to spend it on our own ‘pleasure’, there is a very strong current of selfishness flowing.

The Scriptures are filled with verses pertaining to ‘giving’.  To start with, those of us who call ourselves children of Elohim have been given a priceless gift that we do not deserve: life, eternal life, when we choose to live in obedience to His instructions in righteous and moral living.  Do we then, in our selfishness, withhold from those who are in dire straits, and need help?

Let me expand on this a little:  I am not in agreement with giving ‘handouts’ to anyone and everyone who professes to have a need.  This is not an accurate discernment of any given situation.  We are first to assist those who are like-minded, those who believe in the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and regulate their lives according to Torah.  We have specific instructions given to us in the Torah, especially toward the widows, orphans and the poor (Lev 23:22; Lev 25:35; Deu 15:14; Ex 22:22; Deu 10:18), with some of these instructions being extended to include the stranger who lives with us.   In spite of this, I believe that we must first determine if the cause is a genuine ‘need’, or is it simply a ‘want’, before we pull out the checkbook.

Giving should be an important part of our nature, for ‘freely we have received, therefore freely we give’ (Mat 10:8). And yet, how much giving do we actively participate in?  Have we become a generation of ‘hoarders’, keeping everything for ourselves, in the pursuit of what gives us pleasure?  Or are we givers, serving as a conduit for the generous hand of our Elohim?

“Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor will cry out himself and not be heard.”(Pro 21:13 AMPC)

“Clean and undefiled religion before the Elohim and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (Jam 1:27 ISR)

“Give, and it shall be given to you. A good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over shall be put into your lap. For with the same measure with which you measure, it shall be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38 ISR)

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