Exodus 35
Wow! So many free-will offerings: gold, silver, bronze, fine linenes, yarns of blue, purple, crimson, goats, hair, rams skins, fine leather, acacia wood, oil for the lams, spices, onyx stones, other gems and so much more... All as gifts for the glory of God, to do the work that God had commanded them to do... All gifts from men and women whose hearts made them willing to do the work of the LORD.
This chapter stands out for me just a little this morning. I was at the church office yesterday morning and saw our offerings for this last Sunday. Attendance had been up a little. But the offering was not quite as impressive as the offerings of the Israelites. In fact, it caused me to wonder where we could cut back on the LORD's work. We are going to have to begin planning for next year's budget. What will we cut? Should evangelism be cut? How about gifts to various missions? Should we cut out the LORD's work all together? Will we still be a church if we only exist for ourselves and not to proclaim the Good News to those outside the church? We can't make cuts out of Sunday School. We're using free downloadable material from another congregation that has made that available - thanks be to God for their gifts for the LORD's work. Nothing to cut in education. It has been cut. There is nothing there.
The reality is that there is no place to cut in our budget. Everything there is necessary to do the LORD's work, His will. May God grant us willing hearts to do his will, to give freely so that His work might be done through us.
Wow! So many free-will offerings: gold, silver, bronze, fine linenes, yarns of blue, purple, crimson, goats, hair, rams skins, fine leather, acacia wood, oil for the lams, spices, onyx stones, other gems and so much more... All as gifts for the glory of God, to do the work that God had commanded them to do... All gifts from men and women whose hearts made them willing to do the work of the LORD.
This chapter stands out for me just a little this morning. I was at the church office yesterday morning and saw our offerings for this last Sunday. Attendance had been up a little. But the offering was not quite as impressive as the offerings of the Israelites. In fact, it caused me to wonder where we could cut back on the LORD's work. We are going to have to begin planning for next year's budget. What will we cut? Should evangelism be cut? How about gifts to various missions? Should we cut out the LORD's work all together? Will we still be a church if we only exist for ourselves and not to proclaim the Good News to those outside the church? We can't make cuts out of Sunday School. We're using free downloadable material from another congregation that has made that available - thanks be to God for their gifts for the LORD's work. Nothing to cut in education. It has been cut. There is nothing there.
The reality is that there is no place to cut in our budget. Everything there is necessary to do the LORD's work, His will. May God grant us willing hearts to do his will, to give freely so that His work might be done through us.
No comments:
Post a Comment