64. Be Given
Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
The principle of reciprocity and sowing-reaping continues with the conditional promise, “you get what you give” and even more than you give. At least it will be given back to you “measure for measure.” We do not see it and we cannot count it, but God sees and measures it out accurately. The picture seems even to say that you will receive by measure more than you give. The picture is receiving grain into your spread out apron or your bushel basket; you receive more than you can hold.
The truth of the promise is still clear: you will not lose what you give away, because it all comes back to you and, in some way, more that you can handle. It should be noted that it is people, human beings, who are giving it all back to you; it does not fall out of the sky directly from God. It happens in the regular give and take of day-to-day life lived with other people. Though it comes through men the source is God, who uses people to distribute His kindnesses and blessings.
The Christian does not give in order to get, but he can be assured that he will receive back again at least as much as he gives away. This promise, as all promises, must be taken by faith, because it looks to me clear and simple that if I give say, $500, I am out that amount of money; however, the truth is that I am not out that much money, but it comes back to me according to God’s accounting system. Once again, this requires walking by faith, not by sight. This is the purpose of all the promises of God, to see what we cannot see. We can know the truth without seeing the truth.
Jesus is saying: “Do what I do, do what I say, and it will be good for you. You will win and not lose. Trust me and believe my words.” When we live by faith we do not look at rewards, promises, results and consequences; we simply respond to God’s Love and trust Him to keep His promises. He will.