Devotional - March 24, 2004

Most people have an emotional knee jerk reaction when a conversation turns to money. They might see a contrast in any plan that promotes wisdom and giving money in the same sentence. But that's what you've got in Christianity. I prefer to use the word "investment" in lieu of donation because God blesses both those who give and those who receive when it's done God's way.

Think with me for a moment about the broader implication of God's law of giving and receiving. One of the physical laws of nature is that there is an opposite and equal reaction to every action. I think Luke 6:38 could be stated correspondingly: For every investment in His work, God does a similar work in the life of the one who did it. Let's call it a spiritual ROI, or "Return On Investment."

It's not just giving and receiving money that Jesus is speaking. In fact, He references judging and forgiving people before he mentions giving. A spiritual ROI applies in every area of our Christian life. What that means is we can expect to receive what we invest regardless if it is good or bad. For example, if we plant love, we'll harvest love. If we plant anger, we'll get anger and most often in greater quantity than we gave it.

This truth is proved over and over in the Bible. Just look at today's Scripture: "May the peoples praise you O God; then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us." (Ps 67:5-6) Our praise for God results in a harvest of food. And in Proverbs: "He who seeks good finds good will, but evil comes to him who searches for it." In Deuteronomy, Moses said, "The Lord has blessed you in all the work of your hands." (Vs. 2:7) In other words, God tells us "You work and I'll bless you; you look for good things, I'll give you good things."

Is it coincidence that every passage of Scripture in our reading plan reinforces today's lesson? No. It indicates to me the degree of importance God places on investing ourselves in God's kingdom.

Finally, there is one more truth to this spiritual law you should recognize. God's blessing is most often a return on what we do, not say. In Physics class, we learn that a reaction precedes the action; it's called "Cause and Effect."

In the same way, we should invest our life in God's work, not because we want to be blessed, but because we love Him and if anything His blessing affirms his love for us. And knowing that is a pretty good ROI, wouldn't you say?