Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you. Proverbs 3:27-28
“Stand fast, therefore, in these things, and follow the example of the Lord, being firm and unchangeable in the faith, loving the brotherhood, and being attached to one another, joined together in the truth, exhibiting the meekness of the Lord in your intercourse with one another, and despising no one. When you can do good, defer it not, because “alms delivers from death.” Be all of you subject one to another? having your conduct blameless among the Gentiles,” that ye may both receive praise for your good works, and the Lord may not be blasphemed through you. But woe to him by whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed! Teach, therefore, sobriety to all, and manifest it also in your own conduct.”
Polycarp of Smyrna (69-155) in his Letter to the Philippians 10:1-3 (Roberts-Donaldson Translation).
We are one week into the new year. Gratitude inspires our generous living, and yet, a leading barrier comes into view in this early church writing by Polycarp, who was discipled by John, one of the twelve disciples.
Procrastination is the barrier. Whwn we put off to tomorrow the good works God wants us to do today, we don’t just fail to show generosity, we actually blaspheme the name of the Lord. So, we must sober up about this, he writes.
But why would he quote the early church expression that “alms deliver from death.” I think it’s because He wants his readers in Philippi to know that their generosity impacts others, but it also shapes their eternal destiny.
Their giving shows the veracity of their faith. It reveals that they have not given up but are pressing on in following the example of the Lord. What do your deeds reveal about your faith in Jesus Christ?