There is a saying in the world: ‘Money flows to money.’ It is drawn from life and bears the imprint of a consistent principle.
This is a kind of spiritual law. And, of course, it does not refer to the amount of money, but to wisdom in investing it, which knows how to multiply wealth. If you are a small entrepreneur, small clients with modest projects will come to you. If you begin to grow, people of greater importance will notice you. When you become established, influential people with large sums of money will take an interest in you, and they will be ready to entrust their funds to you because you have become significant.
And when you become very, very great, the whole world turns its attention to you. Everyone watches you closely, trying to understand the success of your life and identify the pattern of your growth. And the children of this world are often far more perceptive and enterprising than the children of light.
I imagine the amazement of the angels when they learned that the time would come when, at the very end, Christ would come to give His love and faith personally to each one, to clothe His chosen ones with Himself, and to grant them the Power of the Holy Spirit so that they might be filled with special wisdom and light. Even the boldest angel could not have dreamed of this. It had always been available to unfallen beings, and they lived in it naturally. But now sinners are offered what they have not deserved, and in such abundance and in such a form. And the King of the Universe Himself distributes and multiplies it. The angels imagined the genuine interest that this news and such an event would arouse, and they prepared to be ministering spirits to those who would come for Heavenly purchases. A whole army of holy beings stood motionless, awaiting the throng at the Saviour’s feet.
How amazed they were when their King went to plead with His subjects to let Him into their dwellings and to buy something useful for themselves. They looked upon Him as a peddler, making it clear that they had no time to consider what He was offering. And if You are so determined to teach us something, then do it while we sleep and rest.
Amazing! The Heavenly treasure prepared for distribution lies unclaimed, while those who show interest are content with crumbs from the table. And if someone does dare to ask and receive, people assail him from every side, trying to persuade him that he should attend to practical matters instead of discoursing on subjects no one understands.
The law of money that we mentioned at the beginning is very much in harmony with the laws of love. And the law of the multiplication of love is prophetic. It is fulfilled in the lives of those who make an effort and begin to consider Jesus’ offer carefully, who begin to ask for God’s love and distribute it to their neighbours, investing their time, the powers of their minds, and their whole selves. As a result, it becomes evident that one asks for a little but receives far more than was requested. The treasure acquired is multiplied so greatly that the mind is unable to comprehend it.
But love accords with my heart. It is in complete harmony with human nature and restores my entire being to its original beauty and purity. My corrupted mind does not resist such restoration if my will decides to take this step. Love returns me to the natural condition of soul that was established by the Creator Himself.
I imagine the joy with which Jesus spoke about this law of multiplication, anticipating the sight of thirsty crowds beside Him, longing to possess the talents of love. And Heaven has a great abundance of this treasure. There is so much of it that an entire Eternity is needed merely to understand that love is infinite in its multiplication.
But when love approaches the wall of my house and tries to enter the dwelling, it does not attempt to break in. Instead, it gently offers itself, hoping to be heard.
When the disciples asked why Jesus taught in parables, we read the answer in Matthew 13:11–12: ‘Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.’
Not everyone understands why such wonderful gifts are clothed in symbols that may not be understood, may be misinterpreted, may be ignored, or may simply go unnoticed. Why make it so complicated?
I have noticed that when you speak directly to people, calling things by their proper names and plainly explaining the importance of love in the last days, the necessity of possessing it, where and how it may be obtained, and how it works, there are some who simply do not hear you and do not understand what you are saying. Later, they do not even remember that you explained anything to them. Love seeketh not her own. It knows how unpopular it is among God’s children, and sometimes it is left to fulfil the second, sorrowful part of the Prophecy about love—to take away from a person even that which he has. When it leaves a life, it leaves forever, never, never again to become part of a soul occupied with vanity. This place is immediately filled with all kinds of counterfeits, and the person rejoices in self-sufficiency without even understanding that he has been left forever. But the day will come when the mind is illumined with the clear realization that without love I am nothing, and that nothing I have achieved or acquired profits me. The wisdom of this age will become the burden to which I chained myself with my own hands, and with such ballast I will be unable to do what Christ desires to see in me.
He loves everyone, and His desire to save has not been exhausted, but my will does not belong to Him and does not know His gentle voice.
What does it mean that ‘to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance’? It means that I have heard about what the Lord has prepared for me and about His desire to sell it to me. I begin to take an interest in it and to thirst to acquire it. I take modest, timid steps in the indicated direction, sometimes doubting whether I will receive even a small amount. I receive it and run away rejoicing. What I acquired passed through me and became part of another person, who either accepted it from me or rejected it, and once again I am poor. I go for more and notice that I ask for very little but receive an abundance of treasure. I give it away, yet it does not run out. I try to keep it for myself, and it spoils.
Joy and happiness simply follow close upon my heels, continually pouring their revelations and emotions upon me. I ask only for love, nothing more, yet I am given faith, friends, happiness in every trial, and things great and inaccessible that I do not know. I marvel at God’s generosity and do not know what to do with it. I run to distribute it, but encounter walls and closed doors. How sad it is when you love but no one needs you today, while those who need you do not know that you exist and that you are seeking them in order to make their lives more beautiful.
I begin to experience the same response that Jesus sees toward Himself. As He was persecuted, so I am persecuted; as He was heard and received, so I too am received. All His prophecies are fulfilled in my life if I am open and meet the conditions. I comprehend the power of love, and it becomes mine forever.
It is like the time when I learned to drive a car, passed the examination, and received my licence. Now I have a lifelong right to drive, and no one will deprive me of this knowledge and experience.
As I taste love and comprehend its depth and mystery, I receive the right to it, and it becomes eternally mine in all its fullness, according to my need.
Homework 112
Please read these passages very carefully in the light of our lesson: Matthew 13:11–15; 21:42; 25:27–30; Mark 4:23–25; Luke 8:16–18; 18:23–27. What did you understand from this lesson? Do the verses above relate to agape love? How can someone who does not have anything still have something? How can I determine whether I possess love and whether it is multiplying within me? Why is the Lord so strict and decisive in His punishment in these examples? Does this account apply to all people or only to the chosen?