Joyful Offering

Then the people rejoiced because they offered willingly; for with their whole heart they offered willingly to Jehovah. And David the king also rejoiced with great joy. 

Both riches and glory proceed from You, and You rule over all. In Your hand are power and might, and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all.

For all things are from You, and from Your hand we have given You.

I know also, O my God, that You try the heart and take pleasure in uprightness. I, in the uprightness of my heart, have offered willingly all these things; and now I have seen with joy Your people, who are present here, offering willing to You.

1 Chronicles 29:9, 12, 14b, 17

What words of wisdom David had uttered in his good old age, full of days! Blessed are those who learn from the word of God and from the life experiences divinely recorded in the Bible. And blessed I would be to learn so heartily, as I read this verses today. Blessings and joy are all in our hands, only if we know how to realise from God's Bank of Blessings.

This lesson of willing offering the Lord has taught me since my childhood. Once the simple fact is well understood that all that we are and have are from God Himself, we would in no way withhold back from offering from the blessings of God. In offering, with deep spiritual realization, is great joy. Offering is never a burden nor a thing of struggling. Rather, not offering from the Lord's blessing is a big burden indeed. I have experienced this over and over again. Whenever we receive from the Lord, be it big or small, we do our best, trusting in the Lord's grace to offer. Such offering is always a joyful deed. For we offer only from what God blesses us! Apart from God's blessings, nothing we have.

Recently, the Lord's blessing has been very rich, and it has even become richer by the day. And it is even more a joyful thing to offer. My prayer and desire is that my offering may go up higher and higher. Having been blessed and offered quite an offering, I still look forward to the day I could offer a hundred times more, even thousands and tens of thousands times more. May the Lord grace me to see the day this can be a reality. May His mercy preserve me from loving anything other than Him. 

The verse in 1 Timothy 6:6, "Godliness with contentment is great gain;" was our topic of fellowship yesterday. And today is the Lord's speaking on "joyful offering." The two are quite related. When we realise everything positive is from God's blessings, and we are contented with it, then we will joyfully offer to the Lord with a cheerful heart. This pleases the Lord and pleases the giver too.

The goal of a joyful offering is for the building up of the house of God. Verse 16, "O Jehovah our God, as for all this abundance that we have prepared for building You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours." All blessings and offerings are not for blessings and offerings sake, but all for God Himself only, for the building up of the house of God, for his holy Name! This is how God takes care of His need by taking care of our needs.

Lord, grace me in Your blessings and grace me to be Your joyful giver all the days of my life. All for the building up of Your Body, Your House, for Your glory!