"GIVE TO HIM THAT ASKETH."
By David Paulson, M.D.
THE thirtieth verse of the sixth chapter of Luke is a passage of Scripture that gives some people considerable trouble. Let us read it. "Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again." How are we going to be able to do this?—Simply by continually receiving new supplies from God. When the Saviour was here He was always able to give to those who asked of Him, and we ought to be able to do the same thing. There was a missionary in Africa who was translating the book of Luke into the native language; when he came to this verse, his first thought was to leave it out, fearing that the natives would at once put it into practical application, by asking for all the things that he had, and he could do nothing else but to grant their requests. But he did not feel free to leave it out, and so translated it along with the rest. The natives came and asked him for all the little comforts and conveniences he had; last of all they asked for his bed, and as they were carrying this off, the chief noticed it, and asked the reason. The natives replied that the missionary had a religion which compelled him to give to every man that asked of him, and so they had asked for and received all the property that he had. The chief was deeply impressed. He said to himself, "There must be something to this religion." By his order all the goods of the missionary were restored, and the chief himself, and his leading counselors asked the missionary to instruct them in his religion. The result was a great revival in that place; hundreds were converted. Still, we are not required to give the people exactly the things they ask of us, for it would not be best for them. The lame man asked alms of Peter and John; they did not give him any money, but they did give him something better than money. So we may meet people to-day who ask us for money or other earthly gifts, and we may not be able to give them exactly what they ask for, but we can always give them something, and that should always be the thing they need most. Perhaps they need to be told the same as the lame man: "Arise and walk." So many people are born weak; they need strength, sympathy, and gentle words of encouragement; a good warm hand grasp, a kind brotherly word, are worth more than money. We may not always know at the moment just what kind of help is most needed; then we should do as Job did. He says: "The cause of him I knew not, I used to investigate."—Jewish Version. God has given us all the means which we possess, and we should be careful in the use of the same, knowing that we must give an account of it. But this verse which I have read from the sixth chapter of Luke is perfectly practicable. There is a rich experience for all those who accept it as such, and put it into practise. Dr. Dow and myself first began to practise it when we were in New York City a few years ago. We could not always give men just the things that they asked us for, but we always gave them something, even though it required some self-sacrifice, because we felt that every man who appealed to us had some providence connected with his case in some way which we would spoil if we turned a deaf ear to him. Sometimes when we were nearing home after a hard day's work, we would meet a man who would ask for ten cents to pay for a night's lodging. We would not feel free to give him the money, lest he should be tempted to spend it in a saloon. So we would walk back with him for a mile, perhaps, and put him in some mission lodging-house and pay for his night's accommodation. Sometimes we would meet children begging for money or food, and in order to make sure that their story was true, would follow them to their homes. We had many rich experiences in this way, and the Lord always enabled us to carry out the instruction of this verse. The young man who roomed next door to us also adopted the plan, and was richly blessed in doing so. He was a poor student, paying for his tuition at the school in work. Before he adopted this plan he would often go for weeks without any money, but as soon as he stepped out on faith, to carry out the instruction "Give to every man that asketh of thee," and claimed the promise, money began to come to him in a wonderful way. He always had sufficient for his own needs and for others. While walking along the street, people would come up to him and hand him a dollar, two dollars or five dollars. Letters would come signed, "From a friend," enclosing various amounts of money. Thus, the Lord provided for him, and he realized the fulfilment of the scripture, "The liberal soul shall be made fat." God cares for each of His children individually. If He impresses me to give money or other help to somebody, it is because He wants to give me a rich blessing in its place. When we use the things that He has given us to help others, He stands ready to give us more. God is anxious to make every one of His children channels through which He can let His boundless love flow out to all the world. Let us not waste time in worrying about our own spiritual advancement; God will take care of that if we will simply leave ourselves in His hands, and do the things that He wants us to do. DAVID PAULSON, M.D.
Battle Creek, Mich.