Everything You Have
1 Chronicles 29:12-14 Riches and honour come from you. You rule everything. You have the power and strength in your hand! And in your hand is the power to make anyone great and powerful! Now, our God, we thank you, and we praise your glorious name! All these things didn’t come from me and my people. All these things come from you. We are only giving back to you things that came from you.
Can I ask you something today? When it comes to supporting God’s work, giving towards the building of His kingdom, are you stingy or generous? Do you hold back, or do you give freely?
Honestly, when I first became a Christian the idea of giving towards God’s work was a complete anathema to me. Even as I tossed my loose change into the offering bag of a Sunday morning, I’d wince at letting it go.
Yesterday we saw how freely God’s people gave towards the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. David gave first, freely and generously and then challenged the people to give too. It turned out that his generosity was as contagious as it was inspirational. It resulted in a huge – HUGE – outpouring of wealth. 190 tons of gold. 375 tons of silver and much, much more.
Question: why did God work so powerfully through David’s challenge, David’s “matching fund” if you will?
1 Chronicles 29:12-14 Riches and honour come from you. You rule everything. You have the power and strength in your hand! And in your hand is the power to make anyone great and powerful! Now, our God, we thank you, and we praise your glorious name! All these things didn’t come from me and my people. All these things come from you. We are only giving back to you things that came from you.
Answer, because David knew that none of what he had, or what the people had to give, was from them. It all came from God in the first place, and they were only giving back to Him, a portion of that which He’d already blessed them with.
Everything that you have was given to you by God. In that light, let me ask you again – are you stingy or are you generous?
That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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