Law of Survival Vs Law of Prosperity
1 Kings 17: 10-16
So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the
LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
We often give to the Lord. However, we mostly do this in the wrong way. When we give we are mostly guided by the "Law of Survival" rather than the "Law of Prosperity". We usually give because we have been asked to do so, or rather we have adequately rationed what we have in our pocket; because we are thinking of "Survival". The Zarephath widow in our text (Vs 12) operated by this law of survival too. She saw the need to survive, to feed her family first, and there was no room to give to Elijah. Who will blame her? She was just being human; after all they were in the middle of drought. Perhaps most of us would have done the same or even worse. However, Elijah guided her to think and operate by the "Law of Prosperity" by saying “...don't be c ld...for this is what the Lord said..."the jar of flour will not be used up until the Lord gives rain to the land". (Vs 13-14). When you act according to the Law of Prosperity, you will give because you see a need and you are happy to meet it; you give because you love to do it. Any other motive will be one guided by Law of Survival.
Brethren, our God is the same yesterday, today and forever more, and he abounds still in ALL blessings and love. He was angry with the Israelites because they did not give accordingly, because they were guided by the Law of Survival (Mal 3: 6-9). He charged them in Verse 10b: "Test me in this and see if I will not open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessings that you will not room for enough". I urge you brethren that you give with love, joy and faith. Let the Law of Prosperity guide you. Test Him and see if He will not make true His Promise.
Not Restricted To Worship Offering Alone
Matthew 25: 35 - 46.
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
The other thing wrong with our giving is we restrict giving to Sunday Worship Service alone. We usually see giving more as a command rather than a way of life. If you have decided to give a certain amount, which is all you have to the Lord on Sunday and just before you leave the house for the Church a friend comes in and requests for money to feed his starving family, what would you do? It will be wrong of anyone not to give such a fellow what he needed, even from the money you planned as offering. Jesus Christ said this about separation of sheep from goats on the last day in Matthew 25:42-46 that "For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.‘ Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?‘ Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
Brethren, do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked, whatever a man sows he shall reap. It is only in giving that we receive“. Do not let's restrict God's blessings to Sundays alone. Emulate not the Priest or the Levite who saw an avenue to help, to meet a need, and passed by on the other side; but the Good Samaritan who was traveling and was quick to help the dying man, took him to the hospital and paid his bills. Always look out for an Opportunity to give, because we will be doing so for Christ and position ourselves for God's blessings.