offering

Cheap and easy

/ EllieJ

Have you ever known another Christian who thinks you should do things for or give things to them just because you’re both Christians? Somewhere along the line, a lot of believers got it in their heads that everything should be cheap and easy. Free is even better. We’ve got this idea in our heads that it’s a blessing. Generally, it’s not. It’s cheap. It’s greedy. It’s unbecoming of a group of people who should be known for their generosity, not their ability to rip people off in the name of faith.

David, having grieved the Lord, was instructed to build an altar and offer a sacrifice at a certain place. That certain place was a threshing floor belonging to a man named Araunan. Araunan offered everything to David for free.

But the king replied to Araunan, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

2 Samuel 24:24 (NIV)

David paid for the threshing floor, the wood for the fire, and the oxen to sacrifice. As the king, it probably didn’t break the bank. But he still refused to offer something to God that he didn’t have to pay for.

Centuries later, another sacrifice was required. Like David’s sin needed a sacrifice, our sin, too, needed a sacrifice. Only the payment for our sin was much greater than the purchase of a floor, wood, and ox. The payment required on our behalf was the life of God’s Son.

As Jesus prepared for what he knew he had to do, he let out one last agonising prayer.

Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Luk 22:42 (NIV)

I cannot imagine the torment Jesus went through during that time in the garden. He knew the physical pain would be unbearable. He knew the weight of the sins of the world would be crushing. And he knew that he would forever be separated from his Father.

These are just two examples, in a book of many, that we are to emulate. Jesus taught on and lived a life of generosity. That practice continued in the early church as Paul writes to commend the church at Philippi.

Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only.

Philippians 4:15 (NIV)

Only one church of many understood the concept of generous giving. The point was not that Paul needed so much (even though he did), but that the church received far more because of their gifts.

Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

Philippians 4:17-18 (NIV)

David could have very easily accepted the gift Araunan offered to him, but he knew that he needed to pay a price or the sacrifice would not have been his, but Araunan’s. Jesus, too, could have prayed that the cup be passed and stopped there. God may have even allowed it. But Jesus knew a price had to be paid. Paul could have sent the gifts back to Philippi since he had more than enough, but he knew that the church needed to give so that they could receive more.

You see, generosity is not something we should expect from others, but it is something we should expect of ourselves. How much value do you place in something that came cheap and easy? Compare that to something that you paid dearly for.

Someone may or may not have need of what you have to give, but you have far greater need for the space your sacrifice creates in your own life. If you want a blessing, you have to make room for it. If a gift costs you nothing to give, is it really worth giving? What does that say about you? What does that say to the person receiving the gift?

No matter who you give to or what you give, whether it be to the Lord, a brother or sister in Christ, or the homeless person on the street, give generously. Give faithfully. Give as though it’s the first gift you get to give and the last you’ll ever be able to give.

Read: 2 Samuel 23-24, Luke 22:31-53

Heart not head

/ EllieJ

Read: Exodus 25-26, Matthew 21:1-22

Once Israel had been set free from the Egyptians, it was time for them to seek God in earnest. All other gods and worship had to be cast aside. God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was to be worshiped. Set apart because He had set Israel apart. A place, a tabernacle, needed to be assembled as a place for the presence of God to rest.

This wasn’t to be any old tent. God had given Moses a lot of very specific instructions that needed to be met exactly. Materials were required. Israel didn’t have a building fund. They didn’t have time to set up a donation campaign. No fundraising events were held.

Exodus 25:2

A freewill offering was taken up and work began to fulfill the specifications for the tabernacle. Nowhere in the text do we find a scenario where the supplies were not enough and a second offering had to be received. The people gave according to the prompting of their hearts.

What does it mean to be prompted by ones heart? Does it mean that we give when we feel like it? Are we generous only when we have the means to do so? Or is it simply a gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit?

I believe it is the latter. Webster’s 1828 dictionary says that the heart is the seat of affections and passions. Israel had just been freed from centuries of slavery. It’s probably safe to say that they were passionate about their freedom and the One who had brought it about. Their generous offerings were a part of their worship.

Giving is worship. Worship should be inspired not by how we feel or what we have, but by whom we worship.

The only way [we can] worship in spirit and in truth [is] to know the One whom [we are] seeking to worship.

Kevin J. Navarro, The Complete Worship Leader

The more we know God, the more we will be in tune with His Spirit and the more we will be prompted to give generously. Giving is the only area in which God actually asks us to test him.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

In any sort of worship—from song to giving—we must be dependent on our hearts, the seat of our affections, for direction. We must listen closely to that part of us which is joined with God. Our heads will always lead us away from generous worship, but our hearts will always lead us toward it.

No place to hide

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

Read: Genesis 3-5, Matthew 2

But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Genesis 3:9-10 (NIV)

We can all look at this verse and have a bit of a chuckle. Who does Adam think he is to try and hide from God? Did he really think that God wouldn’t know what was going on? That he wouldn’t be found out? It’s almost like a toddler trying to play hide and seek. When someone calls out their name, they’re conditioned to answer and when they do, they give away their hiding spot. Adam is trying to hide and gives himself away all at the same time.

Cain tried something similar after killing his brother, Abel.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother, Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Genesis 4:9 (NIV)

It seems so silly, trying to hide things from God. We know that He knows everything. But there are still things we try to hide, to cover up. We keep secrets and, even though deep down we know that God knows, it’s almost as though we hope He doesn’t.

Doing what is right may sometimes seem difficult in the moment, but even more difficult are the consequences of doing wrong. After God refused Cain’s offering, He had a little chat with him.

Geneses 4:7

Obviously, Cain did not take the conversation to heart because he went out and brutally killed his own brother. His reason? Abel’s offering was accepted and his was not. Cain opened the door to sin and allowed it to get a foot inside.

If you’ve already opened the door to sin, there is a way to shut it again—Jesus.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 (NIV)

And if the door is still closed, keep it that way. In just the first four chapters of the Bible, we learn that it is much easier to have everything out in the open rather than try to hide things from God. Would God have responded to Adam differently if he’d gone to Him immediately after realising his mistake? Maybe. We’ll never know. But we can learn from it.

Our approach to God must be on His terms. But they are not difficult terms and He’s promised to help us when we reach out to Him. There is no place to hide with God. And that’s a good thing.

 

Going through the motions

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

We all go through motions every day. There are things we do that we’ve done so many times that we don’t even have to think about what we’re doing—getting dressed, brushing your teeth, pouring a cup of coffee, work, even commuting. We go through our daily routines by rote. Little or no thought is required. It’s easy to slip into those kinds of habits. Even when it comes to God.

I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your hymns of praise! They are only noise to my ears. I will not listen to your music, no matter how lovely it is.

Amos 5:21-23 (NLT)

Ouch! Here God is, telling Israel that He will not accept the very things He gave them. Why not?

Yaweh did not desire the slavish observance of ritual, he desired right conduct, which in itself is an act of true worship.

International Bible Commentary

At this point in Israel’s sin, notice that God no longer referred to the festivals and offerings as His own. The attitude behind the sacrifices had become so focused on the action that God had nothing to do with them anymore and the actions belonged solely to Israel.

God has given us so much, so many ways to praise and worship Him yet we, like Israel, can easily slip into habits where we go through the motions, but our hearts and even our minds are no longer engaged.

Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, a river of righteous living that will never run dry.

Amos 5:24 (NLT)

Far more than mere actions of pious offering, God would have us live lives of perpetual worship. Fake it ’till you make it can only get us so far. Sometimes we just need to start, but if our entire lives become a series of hollow actions, God receives no glory.

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:30 (NLT)

Let us all strive to produce a river of righteous living. Let us put meaning to our motions so that our works become our worship.

Daily Bible reading: Amos 4-6, Revelation 6

Contrite

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering,
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Psalm 51:16-17 (ESV)

So many people – believers and unbelievers alike – have it in their heads that God is looking for works of the flesh. That, when we do something against His Word, He requires us to do something to abase ourselves so that He can forgive us.

God does not require anything of us, but our humility and our contrition. Jesus already paid the price of the flesh. Why would we try to  do anything more? We can’t do anything more.

Daily Bible reading: Psalm 50-52; Acts 27:1-25

Dwell

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When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there.

Deuteronomy 26:1-3 (ESV)

What has the Lord your God given to you? Before you say, “nothing”, take a moment to think.

If you’re reading this, you’re alive. Not only are you alive, but you are educated. You are in a place where there is technology. Where there is technology, there is usually some semblance of prosperity. That’s just a start. Do you have a job? Do you have a family? Food on the table? Health? Wealth?

If God is the Great Provider, we can safely assume that all we have is from Him. He’s given you a lot. What have you given back to Him?

Have you taken what you have – not just what you have, but the first of what you have – and offered it back to God? Do you even give Him credit for what you have?

God gave a lot of instructions to the Israelites as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land. A lot of it was for their own good for day-to-day life. But some of it, was so that they were reminded of who they were and where they came from.

God urged Israel to make an offering of the first fruits of the land (the land they not only prospered from, but actually had to work – it didn’t all come for free) and, in giving the offering, would make God’s name dwell in the land. Not only did the nation Israel occupy the Promised Land, but God’s name did, too.

When you stamp your name on something, it belongs to you. It let’s everyone know who it belongs to. Have you stamped your name on all you have? Or have you stamped God’s name so that everyone will know who it really belongs to?

Daily Bible reading: Deuteronomy 26-27, Mark 15:1-26

waste

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

I’ve spent my entire life in church and in all that time have known more than a few people who see it to be wasteful to give to the church. I’ve seen people scoff at extravagant gifts.

…a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

Matthew 26:7 (NIV)

Even Jesus’ disciples were indignant when this woman poured out a priceless offering.

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.”

Matthew 26:10 (NIV)

When we bring our gifts to the church, no matter what church, big or small, when we give with the attitude of bringing an offering to Jesus, it is never a waste. Where the disciples saw what could have been, Jesus saw and accepted the heart behind the gift.

God has not asked us to question how our gifts are used, but only to give gifts and to give them joyfully and with a willing heart. When given with the right attitude, nothing is wasted.

Daily Bible reading: Leviticus 10-12, Matthew 26:1-19