Friday April 20, 2012

Read Deuteronomy 12:13-18

 

The sacrifices of Israel perhaps best parallel our free-will offering and tithes. While we do not offer sin offerings and so on because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for sin, we are still called to give to God.

 

In the Old Testament giving was far more demanding and rigorous than our giving today. Put yourself in a typical farmer’s sandals. As you stand before the flock you intend picking a lamb to take to the temple to offer to God as a sacrifice. Over in the corner of the paddock you see a weak lamb, one that probably won’t make it through the winter. You could take it and give it to God and everyone will be happy. There’s only one problem! God demands the best, not the worst. You look at your prize lamb. He could sire up to 50 or 60 well bred stock this year and give you a great return. Do you take it to God? Do you pretend not to see that lamb? Do you take the weaker lamb and hope for the best?

 

In our churches, financial giving to the Lord causes much angst and consternation among believers. People have told me that talking about giving is not acceptable. Christians have left some churches because the minister dared to talk about giving. Be assured of this, even though we do not give according to rules and regulations, God still wants us to give our best, not our worst, to Him.

 

Here’s how you can tithe sacrificially to the Lord, without falling into legalism. Prayerfully consider your total income (work income + interest + investments + allowances +...).  From this, prayerfully set aside an amount that will go directly to the Lord. Start with a tithe (ie 10%) and pray upwards from there. You and God need to set this amount. Each week (or fortnight or month) set that amount aside to God. Give it to Him completely, with no strings attached. Again I’ve seen many believers give to God only while the church does what they think it should be doing and spending its money on. You and I do not have the right to be so arrogant and sinful. When we give to God, we give to Him with no strings attached.

 

Now in the life of any church there will be times when it requires more funds - building projects, mission endeavours, urgent relief and so on. Having set aside our weekly amount to the Lord, we should not dip into these funds. Rather, our free will offerings should be on top of our regular committed giving. So if, for example, I am giving God $200 per week as my regular offering and the church asks for funds to send a team to India, I should give to that fund (assume $50) without reducing my $200 weekly contribution to $150. The extra I give to the India mission team is my free-will offering.

 

In 2 Corinthians we read these encouraging and blessed words.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

 

God loves a cheerful and joyous giver. God loves generous souls. God loves it when we are giving as much as he has given us.  Go forth and be generous this weekend.

 

Prayer:

¥ Pray that your church would be a generous church that gives to God sacrificially. While there are many people in churches unhappy to talk about giving and finances, pray that God would break down this barrier and bring people  to the point of being generous.

¥ Pray that our hearts would be set on Jesus and His Word rather than on the mighty dollar bill. Pray that our trust would be in Christ not in our bank account. Pray that we would not fall into the temptation to love money because it is a root of all kinds of evil.