OFFERING AS TRANSFORMATION AND THANKSGIVING
How often do
you experience the time of offering in church as either a hastily thrown out,
almost apologetic time, or even a negative moment? I have to say, for me, too
often.
But the time
of offering is as much an act of worship as prayer or sermon or song. Why don’t
we treat it like that? Of course, the time of offering during a worship service
is a time to share financial gifts that will allow God’s work to be done
through that local church. But it must also be a time to offer ourselves to the
glory of God and to be used by God.
It can be a
time of transformation. We are blessed by the grace of God. There is grace
before we even know what it is; there is grace where we are pardoned, and there
is the grace where we mature in our faith. That grace blesses us with
everything. Everything we are and everything we have. We are transformed by God;
we are transformed by grace; and that time, in church, where we offer ourselves
over to God, can be a time of transformation.
In addition
to ourselves, we offer up a portion of what God has blessed us with. We aren’t
giving our money to the church; we are sharing a small portion of what God has
given us with the church so that God’s work continues and other lives are
transformed. When we talk about giving our own stuff away, it starts to seem
like a lot. But when we look at the fact that God has given us everything; and
we can keep most of it to care for ourselves; giving a little bit back, 10% or
more doesn’t seem like so much.
Think of it
like a basket of apples. There are ten apples. God asks that we give back the
best apple for God to use; but God lets us keep the other nine to care for
ourselves, our families, our homes and our lives. We can give thanks to God for
that generosity, can we not?
Our offering
in church, or via online giving, or via a check put in the mail is done in
thanksgiving to God. Let that moment, those moments, transform our lives!
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