A God of Abundance

God cares about your needs! God created the world as a place of abundance where every need of every person should be met. I believe that. It is a consistent theme of the Bible.

Genesis tells us that He looked over what He had made and said, "It is good!" That didn't mean OK, just about right, acceptable and we'll work out the bugs, etc. It meant that He made it perfect and provided everything that was necessary for life.

Abraham, when he experienced God's provision at a moment of 'impossibility' named Him, "Yahweh Yireh" - God, my Provider. To be sure, Abe's trust wasn't perfect and on more than one occasion he tried to take care of his own needs in his own way. The results of his attempts at self-sufficiency were always less than wonderful.

In Israel's economy, God built in protections for the poor. A poor Israelite was not be be permanently enslaved by his fellow Israeli. An economic cycle of 7 years was set and in every 7th year debt was to be canceled. On the 50th year, it was the 'year of Jubilee,' when the land of a family lost to debt was to be restored to that family. Why did God command this? He knew the importance of keeping wealth from being concentrated in the hands of a few. (see Leviticus 25:8-14) You say, that was impractical! No, the greed of the people just kept it from being implemented. Certainly the implications of this cyclic system were many, but God intent was to erase permanent poverty.

Ultimately, God reveals that poverty is the result of sin. Oh, be careful how you apply that phrase. Don't misunderstand me as saying that you or I can look a poor person and conclude, 'he is a sinner!' That would be both unloving and wrong. It might be the sins of past generations, the sins of his nation, the sin of his extended family, or even the sin of his neighbor. But, the truth is that where people live in God's ways, prosperity is the general result!

The key to enjoying God's provisions is obedience. In Deuteronomy 15 (NLT) we read: "There should be no poor among you, for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession. You will receive this blessing if you carefully obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. The Lord your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow! You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you! Isn't that a great promise? But God also recognized that there would be those who, for one reason or another, were not blessed.

And what of them? Take a look. “But if there are any poor people in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year of release (that 7 year cycle) is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin. Give freely without begrudging it, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. There will always be some among you who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share your resources freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need." (7-11, NLT)

I take two lessons from that passage.
The first is- God will take care of me.
I don't always live at peace in that promise, do you? But, when I center my thoughts on His Word I am able to trust Him in new ways.
The second is- if meeting humans needs is important to my Father, then it must be important to me.

Here's a passage to ponder this day: Proverbs 11:24-26 (The Message)

The world of the generous gets larger and larger;
the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.

The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;
those who help others are helped.

Curses on those who drive a hard bargain!
Blessings on all who play fair and square!