From the archives of Oral Roberts – First of three parts
Some time ago, Evelyn and I were reading the Word and I came to a verse that I had read and preached on many times―Luke 6:38. “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together; and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete [or give] withal it shall be measured to you again.”
I had always thought that God’s return in response to my giving is what is good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. But God showed me that our giving must be good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.
Second Corinthians 9:6 says, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. God is telling us to place our priority on the way we give, rather than on what He will return. We’ve got to see the difference between God’s part and our part, for not until we do our part will God do His part.
The people who have the greatest difficulty in understanding the principles of sowing and reaping, giving and receiving, are those who say, “But I’ve done what God said. I have given. I have sown my best seed. Now, why hasn’t He given back His best return?”
The silver and gold of the earth belong to God, and He gave us dominion over all the earth. The devil has taken it only because we have forfeited our claims on it. We can’t be jealous of the harvest of other Christians because we didn’t sow their seed. We cannot control someone else’s harvest. That’s God’s part, and He is obligated to honor their seed according to His Word. Whenever I see someone with a mighty harvest from God, my first thought is, He must have planted a mighty seed! What we must do is plant our seed then expect an explosive return on our giving.
