Thoughts for another day

Oct. 16, 2007

Today's verse: Mt. 6:4. That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

I have read and read this verse so many times but this time; the Spirit of the Lord gave me a new revelation in it: That He rewards us openly when we give secretly which means, we don’t give to show others but respond to the cry of need.

Giving alms is mandatory – not left to us as a choice, for in the preceding verse, Jesus says, ‘When you give alms’, not ‘if you give alms’. In the giving of alms, we tend to ask, ‘what’s in it for me?’ To which many would answer, ‘Nothing.’ In fact, we rationalize the art of ‘not giving’ with many reasons, ranging from the most basic, ‘well, I don’t have the money’, to the more reasoned, ‘it makes them lazy’ thereby quelling our inner voice’s urge of giving to a needy soul begging in visible and absolute desperation. By the way, I am not promoting the art of giving to beggars but just echoing what the Lord says of almsgiving; you may take it the way He speaks to you.

Whether we give or not, today’s verse is rich in one thing and that is: He will reward you! Like I said earlier, I had read this verse so many times but only now did I discover the promise of Christ that God rewards the alms giver openly, of course when the giver gives not for selfish gains, but because she sees a person in need. Further, it arrives in my mind that God, is really concerned for the poor which is why when you share His concern and act, He rewards you. People become poor, not because they are children of a lesser god but because greed in others makes them poor and they remain poor because our greed does not allow them to change their social status. We don’t give because we are driven to understand that we need to save for our future. And we do it because we don’t trust God enough to take care of our future!

If we can crystallize this message and give without questioning whenever we see another human being in need, I can tell you, the God of Heaven to whom belongs the earth and all its fullness, will reward us abundantly – more than we could imagine. Further, let me tell you, almsgiving also includes love, sympathy, a gentle caring word, etc. Truly when you do it, God will ensure your world becomes a lot more beautiful.