“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
Growing Dominion, Part 111
“He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again” (Prov. 19:17).
In many places and in many ways, the Bible teaches that generosity is not money down a rat hole, but rather is seed corn into the ground. It is the way to the harvest. This is not just true when the money is given to “purely” spiritual concerns; this passage makes it plain that generosity to those who are in no position to pay the money back is actually a gift to the Lord. This is why Jesus said to invite people to your banquet who were not in a position to return the favor. For someone to do this, when there is no visible way to get a return from it, is an act of faith. God will always do what God promises to do.
And learning this principle is not just an individual thing—businesses ought to be generous as well. There is a way of giving away too much, so much that it destroys. There is a way of giving away not enough, so little that it destroys. But as John Wesley said, “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” And John Bunyan said, in a bit of edifying doggerel, “There was a man, some thought him mad, the more he gave, the more he had.”