Lesson 111. The Bank of Love

If I urgently need funds to pay for a service or buy something very important, but I have no money, what should I do? I go looking. I begin thinking about where I can quickly earn some money, or I remember people who owe me something and try to ask them, or I run through my mind those who might lend me money until payday, or I go to ask the bank.

I remember an occasion when I ran out of money and, on top of that, had forgotten my wallet at home, yet I needed to buy material so that I could work and earn my living. It was not a very pleasant situation. But as a believer, I began asking God for counsel about what I should do. The matter was resolved, life did not end, but I clearly understood how dependent I was upon having money. In that case, the solution proved simple. I had to return home and get a bank card that allowed me to borrow money at a high rate of interest. Then somehow I had to pay it back.

Unfortunately, for many people such a lifestyle of living on credit becomes a lifelong trap from which there is no escape. They borrow money in order to pay another debt. This burden presses them down, and they live in perpetual debt even when they earn something. I dreamed that a kindly millionaire uncle would appear in my life, pay off all my debts, and make me rich besides, so that I would have no worries. But this uncle never came. I had to seek other ways.

There is also a kind of debt that deprives the soul of peace and drags me to the very bottom of a deep abyss from which I cannot escape by myself. It is sin, which is the transgression of the law. It is impossible to pay this debt by my own strength, for the wages of sin is death—eternal death. In order to pay such a debt, I must die this death. One day I will approach the cashier, where I will be told the price of what I took in the department store of life, and I will receive the right to pay my debt. I will not be able to avoid this event even if I do not believe in it. I will simply be confronted with the facts, shown everything I purchased, and given the sentence I deserve; then it will be carried out. And who will lend me his eternal life to pay for my eternal death? Once the sentence has been pronounced, it will be too late to change anything. The accused will no longer have any chance to solve this problem in another way.

Now we have time to resolve this matter and to resolve it correctly, as God offers. He has a wonderful plan. I have the opportunity to accept this plan and begin putting it into practice in my life. Or I can go my own way and try to solve my problems by myself.

Jesus paid my debt of sin. He died, and His death is sufficient to cover all my debts. But the problem is that I am accustomed to living in debt. I spend more than I receive, and the more I come into contact with people and with this world, the greater my debt becomes. Once again I come to Christ, and once again He assures me of forgiveness. But this cannot continue forever. I need to become rich so that I spend my own funds rather than those of another. What am I to do?

In my understanding, there is a great problem. It is that I am still alive according to the flesh while being dead in spirit. I breathe, but to the creditor I am dead, and he will come to take what belongs to him.

Yet Jesus has provided a way out. He calls me to buy from Him gold tried in the fire so that I may become rich. He desires to make me rich and happy.

Gold. This symbol contains the faith and love of Jesus, which He desires to exchange for my debts and for my time. This is true wealth. It becomes mine if I enter into such a transaction. By accepting this plan for my enrichment, I become a very wealthy person in the eyes of Heaven. An account is opened in my name in the Heavenly bank, and I receive unlimited access to God’s treasures. It is very important to understand the essence of how this institution operates.

An earthly bank is arranged in this way: I take something in order afterward to repay it with interest. I must have income from another source in order to pay the amount entered on my loan. I have to do this continually. Until I repay this debt, the bank has a claim upon all my property and upon the collateral against which I borrowed the money. The greater my debt, the poorer I become.

The Heavenly bank operates differently. Love and unlimited access to its treasury are given to me. A strict record is kept of how much love I have taken to pay for services and goods. When I approach the Banker for another loan of trust, all the bank’s servants rejoice and hold a celebration. In their eyes I become a very wealthy person. The more love I take in order to give it to others, the richer I become. Yet it is never enough for me, and I dig channels so that love may constantly flow through them into my life and water the crop I sow. Again and again I ask for love. Eventually, I become so accustomed to this extravagance that I begin to regard the Heavenly bank as my own home. I do not even worry about how much remains there. I simply take in order to give, and after emptying all my pockets and baskets, I possess still more. I begin to depend completely upon this Heavenly treasure, because I cannot imagine what else could be used to pay for people’s services.

The world hates me, for there the struggle is to ensure that no one is rich, while Heaven struggles to ensure that no one is poor. I need only choose whose side to take.

Every deed of love I perform is carefully noted in the Heavenly records. I have a banking history in which all the opportunities I used and all those I missed are recorded.

The bank employees and those who have access to Heavenly resources have a special garment made of Heavenly fabric, white and radiant with purity. I am asked to wear it always so that I may be distinguished from the world.

There are many people in the world who are rich in earthly money, and they are very proud of what they have achieved. The meaning of their lives is to preserve and multiply this capital. Many of them live as though they will never die. They cling to their treasures, afraid to share them with those in need.

Different laws operate in the Heavenly bank. God’s money must work and must be continually invested and sown under every circumstance. This flow must not be stopped. If I cease taking love, all the host of Heaven becomes concerned and desires to help me correct the situation. All the power of Heaven works to repair this failure. Concern over the funds I have not received gives the ministering spirits no rest. The cause is investigated, light is sent, and everything grows still while awaiting my decision. I decide to love and ask for money for this purpose. What joy fills the vaults of the Heavenly bank! How they strive with one another to pour these funds abundantly into my life. And how amazed they are that I ask for so little.

Sometimes I make a very foolish request: ‘Please give me just a little so that I can survive.’ Heaven is perplexed. Why so little? Having such an unlimited resource and access, why do I insult them so with my false modesty? It is a mystery.

But the doors are open, and they are waiting for me. Then it becomes clear that I do not know how to spend and do not understand that such wonderful opportunities exist. A search begins for those who could teach me. The process of my education is set in motion.

1. What did you understand from this lesson?

2. Are you in debt to Heaven? How has this problem been resolved?

3. What is the essence of the carnal Christian’s problem?

4. What does Jesus offer in exchange for my debts and my time?

5. How does the Heavenly bank operate?

6. What does Jesus expect from His people?

7. Please read Mark 4:25; Romans 3:23; 6:6–7; Hebrews 4:16; 10:19–20; 2 Corinthians 9:6; Ephesians 5:14, 18; 3:20–21; and Luke 12:48 in the light of our lesson.