Bill Johnson - Generosity is Lending to the Lord
I love giving my grandchildren and my children gifts on my birthday. I’ve got a birthday coming up, and that’s what I like to do because I only get one chance to show them what the Father is like, and I want to use that well. Whether it’s the poor or not, it says that He will pay back, and when He pays back, it is thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold return; His interest rates are extreme. Well, hello once again! Thanks for joining us in this quest for wisdom. I pray that this infectious quest for wisdom touches everybody in your life, and let’s do this together.
All right, chapter 19 is where we are this week, and we’ll start with verse 2: «It is not good for a soul to be without knowledge; he who sins hastens with his feet.» It’s not good for a soul to be without knowledge. I love the emphasis on knowledge, understanding, and wisdom throughout the Book of Proverbs. It’s this quest for learning, and if you think about it, that’s really what a disciple is. A disciple means «learner.» In fact, I remember years ago, Winky Prattney, a great friend and Bible teacher from New Zealand, said once, «Once you stop learning, you stop being a disciple.» So the challenge throughout Scripture is that we are continuously like children who have this thirst and hunger to learn—a quest for adventure. This is really the invitation here: he who hastens, who lives without knowledge, insight, or conviction, acts presumptuously and makes foolish mistakes.
All right, let’s move down to verse 11. This might open a can of worms, but I think it’s an important one. Verse 11 says, «The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression.» His glory is to overlook a transgression. You know, the best way to do life is to live unoffended. You can’t escape circumstances and situations that are offensive in nature; you have to go to heaven to get away from that. So when it says, «It is glory to overlook a transgression,» it means that I’ve decided I am going to live an unoffendable life. I’m choosing to give up my right to be offended.
I’ve had situations arise in recent years, especially moments I remember from high school or as a new pastor in Weberville, or whatever situations come up for all of us in life where there is disappointment, rejection, or painful experiences. As those memories resurface, the pain returns, and you can feel the disgust, shame, or regret—the «I wish that never would have happened» or «Those people need to learn"—whatever it might be. As you process this, you need to remind yourself, «Wait a minute, I’ve made a decision to live unoffendable, so I give up my right to be offended. I relinquish my right to use this as evidence against that person.» Here it is: it’s glory—wow, it’s glory—to overlook a transgression. It’s glory! God designed you; He designed me to live in the reality of His glory.
Move on over to verse 17; this is a very special verse for me. It says, «He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.» There’s reason to believe that a large part of the abundance God wants to bring into every believer’s life is to equip us to administer justice and freedom to others through our kindness, our serving, and our gifts. It’s important for us to recognize that I don’t ever want to walk past a crisis or a need unaffected. Sometimes I’m able to do something; sometimes I try. I don’t usually carry a lot of cash, but I try to have some with me.
In fact, I’ve set aside times in my car where, you know, you drive by somebody at a stoplight, and there’s someone who is a Vietnam vet, homeless, and whatever. These things just mess me up, and I try to keep a stack of bills in the console of my car for those moments. I plan ahead for Sundays, anticipating a child with a birthday or a homeless person asking for help in the church lobby. I try to plan so I can actually help in those situations. It’s the smart thing to do; it demonstrates you’re alive. I know this $20 bill—or whatever it might be—isn’t going to fix the problem, but I also know it testifies to the kindness of God toward a person. Sometimes we try to go above and beyond what would normally be expected in a given situation because it testifies of Him—it reflects who He is.
I’ve got a birthday coming up, and this perhaps isn’t the best example since my kids and grandkids aren’t poor, but I love giving my grandchildren and my children gifts on my birthday. I’ve got a birthday coming up, and that’s what I like to do; I plan ahead a long time to honor them. Why? Because I’ve only got one chance to show them what the Father is like, and I want to use that well. Whether it’s the poor or not, it says that He will pay back; when He pays back, it’s thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold return. His interest rates are extreme, and when He returns to you what you’ve done for the poor, it’s so significant. We delight in the privilege of humbling ourselves. You can’t fix a problem by throwing money at it, but you also can’t fix it without investing something. So we’ve got to live with a sense of intentionality in caring for the poor.
All right, let’s move on down. We’ve got two more verses I want to read.
The fear of the Lord. Verse 23: «The fear of the Lord leads to life; he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil.» That’s interesting. You might say, «Well, I fear the Lord, and I’ve had all kinds of horrible things happen.» Return to what He says, meditate on that, and learn to declare it over every single part of life. He who fears the Lord leads to life. Embrace that as deeply as you know how. The fear of the Lord; he who has it will abide satisfied, thrilled, and it will never take you into evil—that is absolutely true. The fear of the Lord and the satisfaction that comes from having the priorities right in living in the fear of God will never lead you into evil.
Here, we’ll do one more verse; it’s verse 27: «Cease listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.» Cease listening, my son, to instruction. If you stop being a learner, you will stray from what you have already learned. That’s what it’s saying. Cease listening to instruction, my son; you will stray from the words of knowledge. What are the words of knowledge? It’s what you’ve already learned. If you stop being a learner, you will stray from what you’ve already learned. It’s a scary place to end, but it’s a good one, a good one where we stay humble, childlike in this adventure of learning before the Lord. It helps us stay current in our obedience before the Lord because you and I are here for the same reason: we just want to honor God with all that we are and all that we do. So I pray that for you. I pray this week would be a time of adventure in learning that impacts every single part of our lives. Amen.