Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are the judgments and His ways past finding out!
‘For who has known the mind of the LORD?
Or who has become His counsellor?’
Or who has first given to Him
and it shall be repaid to him?”
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things,
to whom be glory forever. Amen
Romans 11:33-36I think, sometimes, we as Christians become smug, thinking, we have all the answers. We even feel God owes us.
There is a troubling theology, out there, sometimes referred to as give to get. Its premise is you give to God and He will give it back to you, ten times or a hundred times more.
God owes us nothing, anything we give to God, be it our time, or our money, we should not expect to be repaid for it. We should give to God, with a willing heart.
I am not a firm believer in giving a tenth of all, we have to our church. I strongly believe we should give to the church we attend first. I also believe that we should give what we can when we can and all we can expecting nothing in return.
Mark records this incident:
Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put
money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one
poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He
called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you
that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the
treasury; “for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of
her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”
Mark 13:41-44The New International Version states: “But a poor widow came and put in two very small, copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.” Mark 12:42
She gave her whole livelihood in faith, it seems because she wanted to. No one was forcing her.
We must give to the church we attend. We must support the work of our local congregation, missionaries, and other Christian works. This is of the utmost importance.
We must, however, do this out of a willing heart with no expectation of remuneration.
Something to think about
Paul in our text makes reference to Job 41:11 where the LORD is speaking to Job saying:
“Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.“
Simply put God owes no one anything. In giving to God, we are giving only what is His already. We are merely custodians of what we have.The New International Version puts verse 36 of Romans 11, this way:
“For from Him and through Him and to Him
are all things.
To Him be glory forever!
Amen.”
We should be giving a portion of our income to God. A tenth is good so is any amount. God knows our needs and will not leave us short. Therefore it is important to listen to Him. And give what we can, as often as we can, and as much as we can, as God directs. Doing it privately with a cheerful heart, without expectation of return.
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