God loves a cheerful giver and we are to consider it a greater thing to give than receive. We have known these biblical principles for giving almost since the day we first believed. They are taught in Sunday School classes from the youngest to the oldest. And yet most believers find it hard to give up what they really want to hang onto. If the truth were told, we often give grudgingly, trying to hold as much back for ourselves as we possibly can. And we seem to be much happier when we are the recipient of a gift, rather than when we are the giver.
We often think of the woman who gave her last to coins, and some how we let ourselves off the hook by dropping a couple of bucks into the offering plate on Sunday, truly believing we have done as well as she did. We forget that they were her entire bank account! She had no more money left in her leather money pouch. She gave everything she had left. Is that how you give? I know I don't.
It seems that in this day and age, and especially in a country whose materialism is sin, that we have no idea what it is to give so sacrificially. More often than not we are guilty of giving whatever amount we think that will "get us by." We throw in a five dollar bill with the full knowledge of what we have spent the rest of our money on, bills, yes, but also on ourselves in the selfish accumulation of things and services that feed our flesh. And there are those who began tithing a tenth of their income, who are as comfortable in that as the one who throws his crumbs into the pot of giving. If it is no longer a sacrifice to give our 10% then should we be considering 12%?
I am being challenged in my own giving right now. God has been pointing me to "other offerings" that no one but Him sees. And if I am honest, it is a struggle sometimes in my flesh to let go of the few extra dollars He is asking me to give. As I submit (sometimes willingly, sometimes not) I am finding that it truly is more fun, more fulfilling, more joyful to be on the giving end.
In one story in the Old Testament God has shown me two principles by which we are called to live: Willingness to give everything and Being unwilling to give something to God that has cost me nothing. Here is the story found in I Chronicles 21.
David had foolishly took a count of all of Israel's people, looking to see just how big his army now was. This showed his lack of trust in God, and there would be an undesirable consequence for his sin. David was asked to choose between three punishments. He chose pestilence on the land and 70,000 men died. David called out to God to stop the death that he was fully responsible. Having accepted his responsibility in the matter, God's angel told him to go to Ornan and build an altar on Ornan's threshing floor.
David obey and went directly to Ornan. When Ornan saw his king approaching, he laid down with his face to the ground, an act of humility and submission. Then King David asked Ornan for the site of the threshing floor, and offered to pay him the full "asking price."
Now we see the two principles come forth, one from Ornan, and one from David. Ornan's response to the King was that he not only take the land for his altar to God, but he also offered David the oxen for the sacrifice, wood for the necessary fire, and the wheat he had just been threshing for the grain offering. Ornan was willing to give everything David needed. He held nothing back from his King. Are we willing to do the same for our King?
Now let's look at David's response to such an offer. His simple answer was this: "No, but I will surely buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, or offer a burnt offering which cost me nothing." David knew that for his sacrifice on the altar (in his case for the sin he had committed) to be pleasing to his God, it would have to cost him something.
God can see our hearts. He knows what our thoughts and attitudes toward giving are. Does He see a willingness in your heart to give above and beyond what you normally would? Does He see, too, that you are willing to sacrifice what you want so that what you offer Him truly costs you something? Or do you just want to stay in the "comfort zone" of your current style of giving? David brought his own animals and grain to offer to God, and the pestilence on the land stopped. If he had used what Ornan was willing to give, it is likely that the pestilence would have continued. David also paid the full price for the land out of his own pocket. The blessing of God on the sacrifice of David's heart as well as the burnt offering is this: the threshing floor of Ornan became the exact spot where Solomon's temple was erected! God sees into our hearts and responds accordingly!
No comments:
Post a Comment