But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Luke 6:35
“From this account the doctrine is obvious, that it is the absolute and indispensable duty of the people of God, to give bountifully and willingly for supplying the wants of the needy. — But more particularly,
I. It is the duty of the people of God to give bountifully for the aforesaid purpose. It is commanded once and again in the text, “Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy poor brother.” Merely to give something is not sufficient. It answers not the rule, nor comes up to the holy command of God. But we must open our hand wide. What we give, considering our neighbor’s wants, and our ability, should be such as may be called a liberal gift. What is meant in the text by opening the hand wide, with respect to those that are able, is explained in Deu. 15:8, “Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his want, in that which he needeth.” By lending here, as is evident by the two following verses, and as we have just now shown, is not only meant lending to receive again; [for] the word lend in Scripture is sometimes used for giving; as in Luke 6:35, “Do good and lend, hoping for nothing again.”
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) in Christian Charity or The Duty of Charity to the Poor, Explained and Enforced (1732).
In the summary section of this treatise, we discover special emphasis on opening wide. God knows our proclivity to open in a manner that may be less than wide.
Interestingly, every day when I walk the dog I think of the open space with the trail between the homes and give thanks for how wide they made it. So thankful for the generosity of the architect. Open wide.
For your children or children’s children, the church you attend, the ministries you support, and the needy in your path, open wide. For the opportunities to give that God puts in your path, open wide.
Do this because God in Christ Jesus open his hands wide and allowed them to be nailed to the cross to pay a debt you could never repay. Open wide.
And when you do, you won’t end up empty, but enriched. God will refill your hands with more seed to sow and more resources to share. Open wide.