How much did God give to us?

How much do we give?

On Sunday mornings around the world, brethren gather together and take up a collection to support spiritual work. We sometimes (and I’m guilty of this too) hear people leading a prayer, before the contribution is collected, that goes something like this: “God please accept this small offering we give to You, in light of all that You have given to us…”

Sometimes the one leading will go above and beyond to emphasize how tiny, small, worthless, meager and insignificant the offering is, and I suppose the heart is in the right place: We need to recognize that there’s nothing we can give that will compare to the amount that God has given to us. And yet, sometimes we take those words the wrong way, and we tell ourselves that, because we can never give enough to measure up to God’s sacrifice, that it’s okay to give a pathetically small offering. “After all” (we rationalize in our minds) “any offering is going to be incomparable, so why not give a small offering?”

That misses the point of God’s sacrifice entirely.

God gave His Son, yes. That’s a sacrifice we can’t possibly duplicate, yes. But don’t look at it that way; think about it like this: God gave much. Don’t worry about “how much;” just consider that no one would ever look at all God offered and say it was a “little” offering. God gave “much.”

Does He ask for little in return?

Remember when Jesus observed the poor widow making her contribution (Mark 12:41-44): He remarked that her offering was greater than that of others who gave, because she gave “all” that she had to give, whereas the others gave “a little” out of their abundance. What does God want from us? In light of all He gave to us, do we really think He’s content to see us toss a $20 in the plate, without any thought or consideration for “sacrifice”? Do we really think He’s okay with it, so long as we remind Him before hand that our offering is “little compared to what He gave”?

I’m not saying God demands us to give every literal dollar we have to our name to the church collection plate. There’s more to sacrifice than that. In fact, I would say that what God does demand is that we give every literal dollar we have to Him.

How do we give God money (directly)?

We give it by yielding up our love of money and the control that money holds over us. When we really and truly put God first, not only will our regular “contribution” naturally increase, but the way we spend the rest of our money will likewise be improved, as well as how we live our lives in general. We can’t keep living like the only offering we ever give to God is a thoughtlessly-given check on Sunday morning.

Don’t we sing “Jesus paid it all”?

Do we mean it when we sing “all to Him I owe”?

He gave much.

Does He ask little?