“If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any oath towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward them. Rather be openhanded and freely lend to them whatever they need.” (Deuteronomy 15:7 NIV)
There are a couple amazing truths in this text:
First off, ALL that we possess is a gift of God. Our bodies, our breath, the very ground beneath our feet, the bank account we keep, the full refrigerator we open and the structure we call home. We only have because God gives.
Secondly; scripture speaks to us again and again about hard-heartedness. To be hard of heart is to be dead-set against God, closed off to His presence, power and truth. To live with a hard heart is to live opposed to the Creator Himself. We recall Pharoah and his plagues as an alarming example of what concrete in a person’s chest cavity can produce. When we turn our hearts against God, we set ourselves up as supreme authority in our story. This is a perilous and arrogant posture.
Thirdly, we connect tightfistedness to hardheartedness. It seems the clenching in our chest works it’s way down to our extremities and we instinctively shrivel. Hard-hearted people close our hands to the needs of others, determined to conserve all we possess for ourselves.
The problem with a closed fist is that though little can escape, nothing can come in. In clenching our hand, we close ourselves off from the blessing and bounty of a good God who delights in giving His kids good gifts. A closed hand winds up hurting us more than helping us. It requires a lot of effort to keep a tight grip on limited resources. And open hand is far less exhausting: unfurled fingers allow for resources and blessing to flow freely into and out of our lives.
Lastly, an open hand is a sign of trust. We relax physically when we put our guard down. Living with an open hand is a wonderful way to practice and demonstrate our confidence in our Creator-Sustainer.
“Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart: then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and everything You put your hand to.” (Deuteronomy 15:10 NIV)
Lord, today we are making the connection between hard-heartedness and tightfistedness. Please forgive us for all the times we’ve turned away and closed our hands. Help us to remain tender towards Your presence, Your prompting and Your correction. Let us live with palms out; ready to give and receive alike. May we rest in this learned posture of absolute trust. Amen.