Give to him, and don't have a stingy heart when you give, and because of this the I AM your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do. - Deuteronomy 15:10
God knows men's hearts and He knew that when men were asked to loan money to their fellow Israelites in the sixth year (just prior to the seventh, when all debts must be forgiven), they would be hesitant to do it. In fact, a sixth-year loan was more like a gift, because the likelihood of repayment was little or nothing.
Can you just imagine the flurry of borrowing that occurred in the spring of that 6th year? Then, what about the attitude of the borrower? To go to a lender and expect them to give you what you ask under these terms would be to expect nothing less than grace, undeserved favor.
Perhaps that is what God was teaching Israel. He was requiring them to exhibit the same undeserved generosity they had received from His infinite resources. And aren't we, those who believe and follow by grace through faith, expected to learn and apply the same truth? In light of our own salvation (based upon the payment of His Son at Calvary) how can we be stingy?
God will bless the generous heart for it reveals an understanding of what each has received from His hand.
It is better to give than to lend, and it costs about the same. - Philip Gibbs
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