I imagine that most of us who grew up in the church are familiar with the concept of putting something into the weekly offering. For us, it was not uncommon for the plate to be passed on a Sunday morning, and just before it’s passing, our mom would give us a coin or a small bill to drop in the plate. I understand what my mother was trying to do. She wanted her children to grow up to be givers – especially giving back to the LORD.
But the gift cost us nothing. We did not earn the money we put into the plate. We did not sacrifice something else we wanted to spend that money on in order to put something in the plate. It was simply an item of worth or value to someone else, that never really belonged to us – therefore it was easy to let go of.
Fast forward to my early years of work. When I began to see how hard I needed to work in order to get money – through babysitting, or even at my first minimum-wage job, and the gift became harder to do. I felt ownership. I felt possessive. I felt the cost of giving.
Decades have now passed. In this time I have come to realize that those gifts that cost me, or others around me, are often the most meaningful gifts given. Why? It’s probably not the gift itself, but rather the love that is all wrapped up in the sacrifice. It’s the willingness to let go of self and focus our resources onto someone else.
Friend, it’s extravagant living.
God’s gifts to us are extravagant. When He gifts, He gifts big. He gifts us with blessings that we neither earn nor deserve. He gifts us with both tangible gifts we see, but also with the unseen gifts we need – like grace.
How then can I give something back to God without there being any cost to me?
There is a story about King David in the Old Testament where David wants to make an offering unto the LORD to stop a plague that is sweeping across the nation. He goes to a location to sacrifice and the landowner offers to give David both the land and the animals for sacrifice. (Like my mother giving us her coins for the offering plate – this would cost David nothing.) But David is unwilling to go this route. “… For I will not present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24) Why? Did David not see the man’s willingness to give? Yes, David saw it, but David wanted the gift to God to cost him. He wanted it to be his gift and not just his presentation of the landowner’s gift.
Friend, what gifts are you giving? Is there a cost to your gifts of time shared? Are you giving freely or holding on tightly to what you believe is yours? Are you giving to God while keeping in mind what He has given to you? Remember, God’s greatest gift came at a great cost. Our salvation cost Him the life of His Son. Even our greatest gifts cannot compare to that which our Father gave to us!
LORD, help us to remember that there are real blessings that come from giving – especially where there is a cost attached to the gift. Help us to give freely. Intentionally. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Blessings!