Addinng To

If you were going to add to something, what is the first thing you would neeed?  Something!  If you were going to increase something, what would have to exist?  Again, something.  You cannot add to, increase or multiply when there is nothing to begin with.

An interesting aside to consider is whether Eve had children in the Garden of Eden before the Fall.  Notice what God said her punishment would be: "I will increase your pain of childbirth" (Gen 3:16).  What pains?  The ones that existed already.  Something to chew on sometime.

More to the point of today's thought, consider the words of the prophet Malachi: "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it'" (3:10).

What was the beginning point of God's multiplying of Israel's blessings?  That they present the tithe of their current blessings to God.  God then would reciprocate by an exponential multiplying response to their offering.

Lest we think this is just an Old Testament phenomenon, having to do with the tithe of the Temple, listen to he words of Jesus: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Lk 6:38).  The multiplying effect or the "adding to" principle is clearly in the mind of Jesus, apart from Mosaical Law.

This principle is not a "tit for tat" or "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" theology.  It is an encouragement in spiritual growth.  Or, if you will, an applause of heaven.  When we are doing the right thing, heading in the right direction, giving in the proper spirit; God encourages those positive spiritual steps by increasing their effect.  It is a little bit like a matching funds savings or retirement account, where someone adds to what you invest to encourage your investment, not to gain from you.

This is whay our attempts at giving, serving, honoring, caring, etc., are so important to our personal development.  Not because we will be rewarded for our efforts but because our efforts are taking us in the right direction and God will bless the direction of our walk when it leads us home.

Perhaps one of the best verses to help explain this phenomenon is found in Hebrews: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (12:1).   Can you envision the crowd of saints and heavenly hosts applauding as you make the turn toward home and its increase as you press in toward thee goal?

We can't earn, merit or ahieve our salavation, which comes only by grace.  But God will bless our efforts to grow in grace and become more like Christ.  God will increase, multiply or add to the grace of our walk when we are walking in grace.  Jus' Say'n.