Isaiah 32:8 “But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.”
The first three words of this chapter are, “Behold, a king . . . .” Isaiah 32 tells us about the perfect King and the perfect kingdom. However, the perfect kingdom will never be fully realized until we have a perfect King. Kingdoms are made up of people, not just kings; until the perfect King comes and puts down sin and reigns in righteousness, we will not see this.
Verse 5 says, “The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.” Now those are some fancy words! If you are like me, the word liberal does not strike a good chord; that is because today liberal is used in a negative way. The Bible word liberal means “generous.” The idea comes from the word voluntary. In other words, I am generous when I volunteer what I have.
We live in a day when evil is called “good,” and good is called “evil.” Terms mean something, and ironically, today a wicked man is sometimes called a liberal. A theological liberal is generous with the Word of God-but the Bible does not belong to him! A political liberal is generous with the United States Constitution (the founding fathers’ words)-that is not theirs to give away either! The Bible says that there is coming a day when evil will be called what it is, and good will be called what it is.
Verse 6 says that “the vile person will speak villany.” Of course! A vile person speaks villany! Verse 7 speaks of “instruments also of the churl” which are “evil.” A wicked person does evil! But in contrast, verse 8 says, “But the liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand.”
So what does this mean for us today? First, we are known by our actions and our words. That is sobering, and it really is true that we each have two names: the one our mother gave us and the one we are making for ourselves.
Secondly, you will stand or fall by your actions.Few things will come back to bless you more than your generosity-your volunteering-of self. Often we think of generosity as money (and it does include that), but being generous is so much more! What about your time, efforts, etc.? Are you known by your liberality?
What are you volunteering today? Are you volunteering your heart, efforts, help, and money? A person is truly generous (a liberal) if he is volunteering what he has. What will you volunteer today?
Prayer Requests:
1. Revival services tonight in Kalamazoo, MI and Beecher City, IL
2. Deaf Rally in Concord, NH this weekend
3. Bill Rice Ranch Homeschool Conference and Competition (April 8-10)