Giving of Our Best

Every Sunday morning as our congregation gathers for worship we collect an offering.  As the deacons bring our offering to the table we sing the Doxology, which says:

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below;

Praise him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  Amen.

The Doxology states very clearly that our blessings, or all that we have received in life, has come to us as a gift from the hand of God.  When we read story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 we also see clearly that even though all that we have comes from God, that it matters quite a lot in what it is that we return to God in the form of our offerings.  It is easy to do what Cain did, and give a portion to the Lord.  It is often much harder to follow the example of Abel, and to give of our best.

Cain was a farmer and he gave of the produce of the ground, while Abel was a rancher and gave from his flock.  The gifts they brought to God were appropriate for their culture.  In our day, whatever it might be that we do for a living, the offering we bring to God comes in the form of dollars. It may be a check, a money order, or cash, but in the end they are all dollars, and any one of them is just about as good as any other one.  Or are they?  Are all dollars given to God equal?

No, they aren’t.  All of the dollars may be used in exactly the same way but the difference is in the attitude of our hearts as we give them.  When we look at Abel, who gave of his best, the principle we see at work is making it a priority to give to God first. Genesis 4:4 says he

"brought the firstborn of his flock, and their fat portions."

Applying that principle today means that we look at what we have received, and then we give to God first.  We begin by separating out the portion for the work of the church, and then have the remainder to use in the ways that we desire.  That is the approach of Abel.

The method of Cain would be to take whatever it may be that we have received, use it as we desire, and then see if there is something leftover to give to church.  That is a method that considers God to be more of an afterthought, rather than our first thought.

I speak of this from experience.  I spent the first number of my years as a Christian saying "What can I afford to give to God?"  And then I began to understand this way was the complete opposite of how giving to God should be done.  Changing to giving to God first required changing some other "priorities" but in doing so I found that those things weren't quite so important after all.

So this month I invite you to look at God, to look at the gifts he has given you, to look at your giving in return, and see if something needs to be changed.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.