Sorry--No Spare Grace Today?" Leviticus 19: 9-10 ...  PRO

“Sorry--No Spare Grace Today?” Leviticus 19: 9-10 Key verse(s): 9: “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.’”

“Is your generosity based on facts or faith?” I would imagine that most of us would answer that question, “Faith!” Demographer and pollster George Barna did a survey a number of years ago and discovered that generosity is something that over 93% of all Christians polled believe in and ascribe to. However, when he went on in his survey to refine the question by adding “Do you know the limits of your giving and, therefore, mark yourself as one who is a prudent in that giving, always with an eye on who might be benefiting unscrupulously or frivolously of your giving?” The vast majority of Christians polled chose this latter statement as most indicative of how they view their generosity. If you are like most Christians, qualifying your giving is an important part of what it means to be generous. It’s simply makes sense to limit the scope of our giving lest we become squanderers and fools in that giving. To most of us, this is what good stewardship is all about.

God instructed His children not only to be generous but to show that generosity in a way that was selfless and non-determining. He forbid His people from selecting targets for their generosity or limiting the scope of their generosity. Simply, generosity was something that should flow freely and without restrictions from a loving heart that was filled with gratitude to a gracious God whose supply of mercy and grace was never-ending. It sprang from a wellspring of love that could never be diminished or used up. Therefore, when they planted a field they planted that field not only with themselves in mind but also the weary traveler that might be journeying along that same field at the time of harvest. There were to be no distinctions as to whom that traveler might be. It may be their neighbor but it was more likely to be a stranger. It might even be an...