Lending to the Lord

If Jesus needed to borrow twenty bucks, would you lend it to Him? It is hard to imagine that any Christian would turn Him down; even if I didn’t have the cash on hand, I’m sure I would exhaust every means to make it happen. If Jesus needed $20, I’d loan it to Him in a heartbeat.

What if a homeless person made the same request? A classic Christian line is, “He’s probably just going to buy beer with it, so I’m not giving him anything.” While I don’t want to use my money to invest in the alcohol industry, that line is often a copout, an excuse to make us feel better for our stinginess. Proverbs 19:17 says, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.”

If we would loan (or give) Jesus our cash, but not the homeless person, there is a problem. The Bible equates the two, saying giving money to those in need is like letting Jesus borrow it instead. The next time you have the opportunity to help out someone who is struggling, think of that person as Jesus. They may never be able to pay you back, but Jesus will make sure you are reimbursed. Somehow, in God’s economy, we will be rewarded, even if not until heaven.

The New Testament weighs in with a similar thought: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2).” It may just be that the person we help was not a person at all, but one of God’s messengers. If an angel came and asked for $20, I’m sure we would hand it over, so again, we need to be generous as often as we are able to do so. Obviously not everyone is able to give away money, but if we adopt an attitude of generosity, we can all find ways to spread the love of Jesus to other people, and that is really what it is all about. Lets all look for a way to lend to Jesus this week.