Is It Greedy to Expect a Harvest When You Give?
A boy rakes dry leaves into a large wicker basket. The leaves are light, so they pile up fast and the basket looks full. Then he climbs in and steps on them. The leaves press down. Now there is room for more. He rakes again, fills again, steps again. Then he shakes the basket to settle the pile and adds more still. Finally the basket cannot hold another leaf, and the pile spills over the rim.
Jesus described a harvest exactly like that.
Jesus did not simply say, "Give." He said, "Give, and it will be given to you." He attached a promised return to the act of giving, and He described that return in detail: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.
Some critics say that to expect a return when you give is covetousness. If they are right, then Jesus made a mistake. Why describe the harvest at all? Why paint a picture of an overflowing measure if He wanted His hearers to ignore it? The Lord does not share the opinion of His critics. He wants you to look at the results. He wants you to know there will be a harvest.
There is a difference between greed and faith. Greed grabs for what God has not promised. Faith expects what God has promised. When you give and expect the good measure, you are taking Jesus at His word, and the love of money has nothing to do with it.
God calls Himself a rewarder. Expecting His reward is the definition of faith in this verse. God breaks the love of money in your life by teaching you His way of giving, so generosity replaces grasping. He does not do it by keeping silent about the harvest.
So give. And when you give, do not apologize for the expectation Jesus Himself planted in you. Picture the basket, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing.
Expecting what Jesus promised is not covetousness. It is believing Him.
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