BIBLE PASSAGE:
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give,
not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
(2 Corinthians 9:7)
MEDITATION:
Who do you think was the greatest giver of all time? It would have
to be Jesus Christ, wouldn’t you agree? He gave His life for everyone
in the world during the time He walked the earth, and for everyone
born in future generations.
When He gave His life, He opened the door for everyone to have an
opportunity to spend an eternity in paradise. But the question is, why
did He do that? He did it because it was part of God’s plan, and because
He loved us more than we could imagine. It might be hard to wrap our
minds around it, but His (and God’s) ways are not like ours.
His sacrifice taught us how to love even those who don’t love us. He
taught us the joy of doing things for others. He taught us the value
and importance of showing appreciation. When we have His Spirit
alive within ourselves, we will want to freely give, without keeping
a ledger to determine if we have received in proportion to what we
have given.
When His Spirit is living in us, we look past the worldly pleasures and
focus on the rewards we will receive when we enter heaven to be with
the Lord. His Spirit teaches us how to let the Lord remold us now so
that when we enter heaven, there will be few changes required of us.
In addition, when we receive salvation from the Lord, He gives us the
Holy Spirit who helps us experience some of heaven while we are still
living on earth. Even though He doesn’t demand it, we owe so much to
the Lord for what He did for us. We have an opportunity to show our
gratitude by returning at least ten percent of what God has given us.
And when we do, we are blessed with an awareness that:
– we are in partnership with God,
– we are doing something constructive,
– that we are working with Him to reach the world for Jesus.
One question we might ask ourselves is,
“How do we give?
Do we give liberally and cheerfully (as the scriptures tell us), or do
we give sparingly, grudgingly, or not at all? When we give, are we
thinking to ourselves,
“I could have used this money for (fill in the blank)”
or, are we glad we are contributing to God’s ongoing ministry of
reaching the lost?
The greatest blessing of giving is not on the financial side of the
‘ledger’ but on the spiritual side. The pleasure of giving is not in
what we can get, but in knowing what God can do with our gifts.
If we give God the leftovers of our substance and our life, we miss
the true joy and blessing of Christian giving and living.
ACTION:
A question to consider:
– Am I obeying the Lord and returning the ten percent He asks
of His followers, or have I allowed the attractions of the world
to steal what belongs to Him?
If the latter is true, then why would you ever expect to receive all
the blessings He has for you? He really does have additional blessings
for those who have proven that He is number one on their priority list.
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 there will not be room enough to store it.
(Malachi 3:10)
Some say that ten percent is such a large amount that they just cannot
give Him that much (even though He gave His life for them, and He asks
for that amount). Perhaps if their income was reduced considerably, then
ten percent would be a smaller amount and they could be obedient to Him.
We must never forget that we have all we have, because He gave it
to us in the first place.
He who did not spare His own Son, but gave
Him up for us all—how will He not also, along
with him, graciously give us all things?
(Romans 8:32)
For who makes you different from anyone else?
What do you have that you did not receive? And
if you did receive it, why do you boast as though
you did not?
(1 Corinthians 4:7)
If we ever have doubts about His gifts to us,
we should remember that He died for us!
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, You have given me so much! Forgive me if I have
not shown You my appreciation by returning to You all that You have
commanded me to give. Remind me that my failure to tithe is actually
stealing from You. Forgive me if my gifts to You consist of leftovers
when Your gift to me was the most valuable gift You could give – Your
life. Teach me to ignore the attractions of this world so I will cheerfully
give to You not out of obligation, but out of appreciation for You and all
You have done (and are doing) for me. I know that obedience to You in
one area will encourage me to be obedient in all areas, and increase my
personal relationship with You.”
BLOG: utvolwoody.wordpress.com
BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
Discussion
No comments yet.