Day 44: A Divine Exchange

"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: 'He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.'" (2 Corinthians 9:6-9 NIV)

In these verses, God promises us abundant provision in the context of sowing and reaping, borrowed from the terminology of agriculture but here applied to money. Paul quotes in this connection from a Psalm in the Old Testament, Psalm 112. The word "scattered" that's used there suggests a man sowing seed in his field. Notice there's a very close connection between giving to the poor and enduring righteousness: 'He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.'

In this connection, we have to see that there's a divine exchange which took place by God's foreordained purpose and through God's grace at the cross and this is the basis: at the cross, Jesus bore the poverty curse that had come upon the human race through its disobedience, that we in turn might be partakers of His wealth.

This is stated in 2 Corinthians 8:9:

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, [as He hung there naked on the cross] so that you through His poverty might become rich." (NIV)

You see, that's the exchange. The basis for all God's provision is that Jesus took the poverty curse that we might receive His blessing and His abundance through faith. And it’s grace, and that grace is manifested in our lives by the fact that God makes it abound to us so that in all things, at all times having all that we need, we abound to every good work.

Now the principle that comes up there, especially from Paul's reference to agriculture and to reaping and sowing is that increase comes through scattering. The measure in which we scatter, in which we sow, will determine the measure in which we reap. Have you ever pictured a farmer who has some tremendously wonderful seed that he's very delighted with and he says, "This seed is so good, I'm just going to hold onto it. I'm not going to throw any of it away." How much return would he ever get from that seed? Nothing. This is one of the paradoxes of nature, a divine paradox. That scattering leads to increase, but withholding leads to poverty. Everything in the Bible tells us this: that stinginess ultimately leads to poverty. That if we want increase, we have to scatter.