The Law of Measure
From the Series—The Generosity Factor
December 21, 2002Generosity is a mindset . It’s a way of looking at God and looking at life . A.W. Tozer said, “What comes to mind when you think of God is the most important thing about you .” This evotional focuses on one dimension of God’s character that is too often overlooked and under appreciated. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists and that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.”
One of my favorite Christmas stories is about a little boy named Benjamin who wanted a baby sister for Christmas so he decided to write God a letter. He sat down and wrote, “Dear God, I’ve been a very good boy...” but he stopped writing. He thought, “God will never believe that”. He wadded up the piece of paper and threw it away. “Dear God, I’ve been a pretty good boy...” but he stopped again and thought, “God won’t be moved by this” so he crumpled the paper and threw it away. Then Benjamin came up with a plan. He went into the bathroom, grabbed a towel, and walked over to the family nativity scene underneath the Christmas tree. He looked at the statues of Joseph and Mary and Baby Jesus and the Shepherds. His mother had told him never to touch the figurines, but he reached down and picked up the statue of Mary. He placed it in the towel, folded it up, and put a rubber band around it. Then he sat down to rewrite his letter, “Dear God, if you ever want to see your mother again....”
We aren’t as overt, but we do exactly what Benjamin did. We employ the same tactics in our attempts to get what we want from God-- bribery and blackmail. “ God, if you do this, I’ll do that .” Or “ God if you don’t do this, I won’t do that .” If we honestly examined our prayers, some of them would fall into one of those two categories. But God doesn’t need to be bribed or blackmailed . He loves to give. Matthew 7:11 says it this way, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him !” God loves to give. And he’s really good at it.
The Law of the Measure
Luke 6:38 says, “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
You can’t out give God . No matter how much you give away, you always get more back. In Matthew 19:29, Jesus said, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” That’s a 10,000% return !
We’re called to make temporal sacrifices , but to be perfectly honest, I have a hard time even using the word “sacrifice” when it comes to following Christ. If you get back more than you gave up have you really sacrificed anything at all? As Jim Elliott said, “ He is no fool who loses what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. “ When everything is said and done, you may have made some temporal sacrifices, but you didn’t really give anything up because you’ll get back 10,000% more than you gave up.
That doesn’t mean we give to get . The Bible says that if you do the right thing for the wrong reason it doesn’t count. Proverbs 16:2 says, “ Motives are weighed by the Lord .” It’s why you do what you do that counts. James 4:3 says, “ When you ask you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your own pleasures .” God’s not going to honor false motives.
We don’t give to get, but when we give with the right motive, we always get back more than we gave up. That is the law of the measure . Jesus said, “ With the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “
“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson, “ that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself .” Proverbs 11:25 says it this way, “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed . He who seeks good finds goodwill.”
The way we help ourselves is by helping others . I think one of the fundamental mistakes humankind makes is thinking that getting will somehow fill the hole in our hearts. So we get more and more stuff, but we feel emptier and emptier . You don’t fill the hole by getting. You fill the hole by giving . The more you give away the fuller your heart feels.
Giving is good for us . Harvard researchers have found that the act of giving has a dramatic effect on the immune system. Giving boosts the number of T-cells (disease-fighters) and endorphins (pain-killers) in our system. Stella Reznick says, “ The one who ends up getting the most from a good deed may, ultimately, be the good Samaritan .”
Supernatural Reward
On a natural plane , giving is good for us . But we don’t just give because it’s good for us. We give because it glorifies God . And God promises supernatural reward .
Some people have a one-sided view of justice, but justice is a two-sided coin . Justice is not just making sure every wrong is punished , but it’s also making sure that every right is rewarded .
Supernatural reward is a major tenet of Jesus’ teaching. Matthew 6:6 says, “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret , will reward you.” Matthew 10:41-42 says, “Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward , and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward . And if anyone gives even a cold cup of water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward .” Matthew 16:27 says, “ He will reward each according to his works .”
In his book, A Life God Rewards , Bruce Wilkinson makes a great distinction between belief and behavior . He says, “Our eternal destination is the consequence of what we believe on earth. Our eternal compensation is the consequence of how we behave on earth.”
Wilkinson says most of us fall into one of two camps. “One camp emphasize the consequence of beliefs on an individual’s eternal future and tends to minimize the importance of works . The other camp emphasizes the consequence of good works on an individual’s eternal future and tends to minimize the issue of belief .” We can’t afford to minimize belief or behavior.
The Scroll of Remembrance
God is going to make sure that everything we do right gets rewarded . He loves catching us doing things right . That is his nature and character.
In Philippians 4:17, Paul says to the Philippians, “Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account .” What Philippians 4:17 reveals is that all of us have some type of heavenly account that gets credited whenever we give ! You don’t give a dime, or a cup of cold water, that God doesn’t credit your account. In other words, when we give money away we send something ahead . We store up “treasure in heaven.”
Malachi 3 reveals the heart of God. God wants to bless you beyond your ability to contain it . This passage focuses on the spiritual discipline of tithing --giving 10% of your income back to God as an act of worship and obedience. Tithing is a test . Do you believe that God can do more with 90% of your income than you can with 100%? Are we going to worship money or worship God? Malachi 3:10 is a challenge. God says, “ Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it .” God doesn’t bless disobedience. But when we step out in financial faith and tithe, God opens the floodgates of heaven and pours out blessing. And He loves doing it because God is a rewarder!
Malachi 3:16 says that God even has a scroll of remembrance where everything you do right gets recorded--even the secret things and small things . And what gets recorded will ultimately be rewarded . Revelation 22:12 says, “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me , and I will give to everyone according to what he has done .”