Reciprocity With God by I. H. Evans

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 16, 1905

Reciprocity With God

By I. H. Evans

Most people are familiar with reciprocity in trade. Governments make treaties between themselves granting equal privileges to each other. They do not expect to give and then not receive an equivalent. When the United States says to Great Britain, “You may send into the United States, duty free, manufactured woolen goods,” Great Britain must say to the United States, “You may send into Great Britain manufactured cotton or iron goods duty free.” This we call reciprocity in trade.

There is reciprocity between men. Here are two neighbors who are farmers. Neither has all the tools needful for doing his work. Each says to the other, “You can always take any of my implements when I am not using the same.”

Two men have not sufficient capital with which to do business. They agree that they will indorse each other’s paper, and get it cashed by a third party. This is reciprocity between men.

The gospel provides for reciprocity between God and man. Here is a reciprocity text: “Freely ye have received, freely give.” Again, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.” That is reciprocity with the Lord.

The Lord has never planned that he should do all the giving. “Freely ye have received, freely give,” is the divine behest. Giving is the counterpoise of receiving. He who will not give has but little reason to expect to receive. God gives not that the receiver may be blessed alone in the receiving, but that

in being blessed, he may be a blessing to others. “Freely ye have received, freely give.” “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” “And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”

You will note that God never asks a man to give what he has not received. It does not seem in harmony with the divine plan for a man to run in debt that he may give. “Freely give” is preceded by “freely ye have received.” When nothing has been received, nothing is required. He who has no blessings from God needs not to tremble because of God’s command to give. God requires gifts only from those whom he has blessed.

When any man can truthfully say, “There is no blessing that I receive from God; by my might and by my power I am what I am; God never gave me anything,” then there will be a man to whom these texts do not apply.

On the other hand, he who has any blessing from God is indebted to God for that blessing. Whatever God gives places the receiver under responsibility to God for that gift.

Every promise of God is a reciprocity treaty. He tells us plainly what he will do. He tells us plainly on what conditions he will do it. God’s spiritual promises are all conditional. Look at this: “And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” That part of the text is a promise, but the conditions of the blessing are hinged on our doing something, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse.” If you will bring the tithe, says the Lord, I will pour out the blessing. This is reciprocity with God.

Now if any one says, “I will not enter into this covenant with God; I will not pay to God’s cause a tithe,” of course he can not count himself a party to the promised blessing.

But some one says, “I do not pay tithe. Years ago I made up my mind that tithing was a humbug, and I have been getting rich ever since, without paying a dollar.” That reminds one of the saying of the old deacon who thanked God that religion was free, adding that he had been a church-member for twenty-five years, and it had cost him just twenty-five cents.

Remember every blessing of God is not temporal. The richest treasure God ever bestows upon man, is not wealth, nor honor, nor official position, but the fruits of the Spirit, “Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.”

We can give to God only material things and the devotion of our hearts. In turn God gives to us all the treasures of his grace. Sometimes these treasures come with poverty and affliction. Sometimes the heart-strings are keyed so high by pain and sorrow and disappointment that earth’s melodies can not be played upon them, and we can only chant the choruses of the heavenly host.

And then God lifts us into the mount of transfiguration, and we behold the glory of the Lord passing before us, and we cry, “One hour with my Lord makes up for them all.”

Brother, are you in covenant relationship with God, so that all his promises are yours? I. H. EVANS.