Just a quick thought for today. As I’m reading through the BIble in a year and am in Numbers and God is instructing the Levites to give a tithe of the Israelites’ tithes, He makes it clear that they are to give the best of what they receive. I’m challenged to consider the quality of my giving and the motive behind my giving.
“You must present one-tenth of the tithe received from the Israelites as a sacred offering to the Lord... Be sure to give to the Lord the best portions of the gifts given to you.” (Numbers 18: 28,29)
Do we give the best of what we receive to our local church, mission agency, missionaries, organizations? Or do they receive from our leftovers? I don’t want to get into the discussion of where your “tithe” should be given, but rather the motive behind our giving and the quality of our gifts.
As a former full-time-on-the-field missionary, I could tell you stories of “gifts” that we received that were more like curses or burdens because they were someone’s cast-offs or leftovers - low in quality, though somewhat higher in quantity (of value).
As well, I can tell you stories (praise God that there are more of these than the other kind) of gifts that we received that were incredible blessings - phenomenal vacations that we could never afford, luxurious dining opportunities, automobiles, computers, money, and so very much more!
All I am asking today is that we look at the QUALITY of our giving more than the QUANTITY of our giving.
In today’s vernacular, “I’m just sayin’...”
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On continual re-entry
15 years ago
1 comment:
Hi, Kelly,
You and Linda were on my mind yesterday which prompted me to see if you still did Blog entries, and I came across this. Besides the question, "How are you (really) doing?" I guess I have a (worrisome) question or two in response to this entry, to wit: were we among those whose gifts you considered curses or burdens? What do you mean exactly by "low in quality, though somewhat higher in quantity...", and how does one make that judgment, either of oneself as a giver or as the receiver?
I find one of the hardest parts about walking through this world as a child of the King is that my feet are continually dirty. I'm told that the rest of me is clean, but it sure is hard to keep my eyes on Him who cleaned me when mostly all I see is the sludge on my feet.
-Porkypine
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