Following the money

Maybe former New Jersey Gov. John Corzine doesn't know what happened to the $600 million at MF Global (the FBI is presently looking for it), but God keeps track of every penny of His own investments.

I was struck by that fact this Christmas season when a man gave me an unexpected and generous gift. Then, a few days ago, I was in a position to give a sizable gift to a woman I know who needed it badly.

That got me to thinking: God is so smart that He knows how to make an incalculable number people rich with the same $100. First, He puts it on the heart of Person A to give a love offering to a certain Person B. Later on, Person B is also moved by the Holy Spirit to help out a friend in need-to the tune of $100. Some time afterward, Person B feels that the Lord is moving her to support a missionary-with a $100 pledge.

And so on and so forth. The beauty of this divine economic scheme is that everybody is happy, and everybody is served, and everybody is blessed for his or her generosity-and all on the same dime! We know from Scripture that, in God's creative accounting practices, everyone who passed around that money to the glory of God will get his own reward. Paul thanks the Philippians for their monetary gift and then adds:

"Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit" (Philippians 4:17).

His delight is not so much for his sake (He has learned how to be equally content in want and in plenty: Philippians 4:11-12) but for theirs. They will receive reward in heaven for keeping a loose grip on the dollars that were, after all, only on loan from God.