October 26, Morning
C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling
"Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house." — Haggai 1:9 · KJV
Churlish souls stint their gifts to the ministry and to missionary work, and call such saving good economy; little do they dream that they are thus impoverishing themselves. Their excuse is that they must care for their own families, and they forget that to neglect the house of God is the sure way to bring ruin on their own houses. Our God has a method in providence by which He can prosper our efforts beyond our expectation, or defeat our plans to our confusion and dismay; by a turn of His hand He can steer our vessel into a profitable channel, or run it aground in poverty and bankruptcy. It is the teaching of Scripture that the Lord enriches the liberal, and leaves the miserly to find out that withholding tends to poverty. Over a very wide field of observation, I have noticed that the most generous Christians of my acquaintance have always been the happiest, and almost always the most prosperous. I have seen the liberal giver rise to wealth of which he never dreamed, and I have as often seen the mean, ungenerous miser sink into poverty by the very parsimony with which he thought to rise. Men trust good stewards with larger and larger sums, and so it often is with the Lord — He gives by cartloads to those who give by bushels. Where wealth is not bestowed, the Lord makes the little much by the contentment a sanctified heart feels in a portion of which the tithe has been dedicated to Him. Selfishness looks first at home, but godliness seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; yet in the long run, selfishness is loss, and godliness is great gain. It takes faith to act toward our God with an open hand, but surely He deserves it of us; and all we can do is a very poor acknowledgment of our amazing indebtedness to His goodness.