My Offering, Part Two

"Let each one give

as he purposes in his heart, 

not grudgingly or of necessity: 

for God loves a cheerful giver"

2 Corinthians 9:7

Yesterday I shared some thoughts on tithing, remembering the promise in Malachi 3:10.  Malachi was given a message by God, to the children of Israel, because they had been holding back what they should have been giving to God ~ their tithe.  So God's message to them was this: 

" 'Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house."

"And try Me now in this,' says the Lord of hosts..."

'If I will not open for you the windows of heaven

And pour out for you such blessing

That there will not be room enough to receive it.' "

But I want to share more specifically on the concept of tithing today.  Interestingly, the word tithe is used 37 times in Scripture (New King James Version) and almost all of those are in the Old Testament.  Only seven are in the New Testament, and of those, three are in the context of the Pharisees.  Because of this, I'm inclined to believe that not everyone is called to tithe, literally.  Meaning, it's not about 10%, per se.  It's about giving back to God.

Now, please understand, this is only my opinion.  And I, along with the Apple of my Eye, believe that we, as a family, should give 10% of our income to our church or a reputable charitable organization.  That might not be what you believe.  It's one of those issues, like how to keep holy the Sabbath, that we must each pray about, and act in accordance with what we believe He desires of us.

Anyhow, a few weeks ago, I sat down in church and while I was waiting for the service to start, I found myself looking at the things in pocket of the chair in front of me:  a couple of pens, an information card about our church, a prayer request card, and an offering envelope.  The offering envelope was in front, so I was looking at the words "My Offering" and I thought to myself wryly, "well, that's not very much lately..."  We are blessed in that I am able to stay home with my Amazing and Awesome kids, and that the Apple of my Eye has a full-time job, which was not the case for many months.  But his salary, like many in this economy, is not what it used to be.  And so our offerings are less than they used to be. 

So I started to think about those words "My Offering" in terms of things other than money.  You and I have so much more to offer Him than just our money. At the time, I had been praying about whether or not I wanted to get involved with a short-term ministry.  It wasn't going to last long, but the time, the energy, and it wasn't my favorite kind of ministry, if you know what I mean...  I'm sure you've been there.  That's someone else's gift; someone else's strong point...  I think I'll let them volunteer...

So I took that thought as a prompt from Him that I should volunteer for that.  So I did.  But still I thought.  And still I think. 

What can I offer?  What do I offer?  What will I offer?

Do I hoard things like my time, my money, my skills?  How much giving is enough, and how much is too much, because it will make me feel tired, or stressed or like I don't have enough Me Time?  (A phrase, by the way, which is nowhere in Scripture.  There is no Me Time.  There is only Him Time.)

I'm not saying we're supposed to volunteer at every ministry, donate to every charity, pray for every cause...  It's about offering to Him what He has given us.  Offering it back, really.  In the quantity He desires, at the time He asks.

And like Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac, God might not even take from us what we offer.  Sometimes He simply wants us to offer.  

~ "Give and it will be given to you:

    good measure, pressed down, 

     shaken together, and running over..."

Luke 6:38