Do you want to know what a person is like, what his priorities are? We used to say, look at his checkbook, but now it would be his online banking statements! But the point is the same. Where you spend your money, and in particular, how you give money are important. In Matthew 6:1–4 Jesus tells you to seek, not your own honor, but the honor of your Father in heaven.
Give because you are children of your Father in heaven. The God who redeemed Israel provided for the poor. In Deuteronomy 15 God ordained sabbatical years in which debts were canceled. God also provided for the poor through gleaning (Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz), Deuteronomy 14:17–21. “Whenever Jesus speaks of ‘your Father in heaven’ . . . he has in view the exclusive relationship between the Lord and those who will share in the bliss of the kingdom of heaven, and share in it now already.” (Herman Ridderbos The Coming of the Kingdom.)
Continue reading “Whose Honor Are You Seeking?”