Proverbs 3:9-10

Honour the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.

There are many different ways of giving. Some people give in order to impress. Jesus once spotted rich people placing their gifts in the temple treasury, no doubt giving a significant amount of money which would be a great help to the temple. Then, Jesus noticed a poor widow, who put two very small copper coins into the treasury. Her gift was tiny and unlikely to be much help to the temple’s accounts. However, it was her gift which really impressed Jesus. He commented: “For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has” (Luke 21:4). The writer of Proverbs encourages us to give God our best.

It was King David who pointed out that when we give to God, all we are doing is giving what he first gave to us. We will never be able to outgive God. It has been wisely said that you make a life out of what you give, not out of what you get. In our deeply acquisitive society, that is a very important insight. Learning how to give is vital if we are to know the blessings that God wants us to experience.

I love the straightforwardness of Proverbs. The writer has a no-nonsense approach to serving God. He tells us how to live our lives to the full but also tells us the outcome. He has learned that if you give generously and put God first in your life, there will be a wonderful result. It will work differently for us all, but we can be confident that if we get our giving right, God will bless us. You will never become poor by giving generously.

Question

How generous are you in your giving?

Prayer

Lord God our Father, you have always been generous to me. Help me to learn how to be generous in every aspect of my life. Amen