Today’s Reading, Exodus 36-38
Focal Scripture: Exodus 36:6 “After Moses gave an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “Let no man or woman make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people stopped.”
Imagine receiving so much of a good thing, you have to ask people to stop giving. I have only ever seen this happen in a few instances. One of the most common, is when a family experiences a death and the community comes together to provide food. Sometimes the food is so much that the grieving family and even extended family can’t eat fast enough before it goes bad. They are overwhelmed by sacrificial giving and loving hearts. So they ask everyone to stop giving food.
That’s exactly what happens in our reading today. The Israelite people give so much that the Lord tells them to stop. They gave all that they had personally and with their hands of items they have made. They make items to go into the tabernacle and give of their first fruits. Their hearts want to please the Lord in every aspect of their lives.
This is what giving to the Lord should look like. This is what giving to the church should look like. I am a firm believer that giving out of compulsion or guilt is never good and definitely not biblical. We are not under the law. We are under grace. However, giving somehow is one of the areas that still has an Old Testament leaning. It is also one of the areas that many churches believe the way holiness or health and wealth churches do in our culture. You give to be blessed not because it’s a desire of your heart.
The challenge for us today is to be able to give with thankful hearts. It is being able to give because our hearts see the need not because some man on a stage demands it like it’s the law. The Israelites don’t give here out of compulsion. They gave because they were moved in their souls. Biblical giving will always go above and beyond anything that can be demanded. Why? Because the heart wants to honor the Lord.
If you never want to give that is a heart issue. If you’re stingy with money that is also a heart issue. However, giving out of law is also a sin. Search your heart today and find ways to give to God offerings, this honors God the church. It demonstrates and what he has done in your life.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading Exodus 39-40
