Today’s devotion is based off of week 3 of Unlikely Heroes: A Widow (WATCH HERE)
Sometimes I wonder if we really should call it “giving” when we talk about offerings to our church.
Why, you ask?
The term giving has different uses in our English language. In its most basic sense is the reality that I move something from my possession to another. When a family member asks for a fork at dinner, I can pick one out of the drawer and “give” it to them. They could do the same for me. It simply implies a transfer of some kind.
However, giving also has a meaning that we use at Christmas and birthdays that implies the giver is the one who owns or buys something and then transfers it to another person, relinquishing ownership and the recipient is now the owner of the item.
Maybe I’m over thinking this. But here’s the point.
Often when we think about our offerings to the LORD through our local church, we think first that the money is OURS and that we then are “transferring ownership” to the LORD for him to use through the ministry of his church.
This is the premise I want to challenge. Because the financial wealth we have is really not ours. Sure it is ours in relation to other humans around us. It is not our neighbors or our relatives. On this earth, it is in our possession and not someone else’s.
But that doesn’t mean it is not God’s.
Consider Psalm 24:1-2 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
What this means is the material things really are things the LORD has entrusted to me to manage in the way that honors him. While he allows me to use them and make decisions about them, he wants me to understand that they are really his. So that’s why giving to the LORD our financial gifts is much more about stewardship, or managing the wealth God has given to us rather than simply determining how much I want to give back to the Lord.
Jesus told a story to illustrate this truth and how we are to view what has been entrusted to us in Matthew 25:14-30
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “ ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So in combining yesterday’s thought and today, when we ask, “Lord what would you have me do with the wealth you have given to me?” He says, “Return the tithe (10%) and see how I will bless your heart that trusts me to continue to provide all you need.” Just test the Lord in this and see what happens!
Apply: Maybe try for three months and set aside 10% of your income to give to the LORD through your local church. See how God works on your heart and the blessing he gives to you and the Gospel ministry that receives your gift!
Prayer: Lord, thank you for entrusting so much to me. Help me grow in my ability to manage the wealth you have given in a way that reflects trust in you! AMEN.
PS: As the LORD moves you, you may want to give a gift to the Crosspoint ministry that enables these devotions to be sent out every week. If so, please click on this link and simply indicate a gift to our general ministry fund which provides the financial resources that make these devotions possible.
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