Digging Deeper

Lord, accept my offering of praise…

Psalm 119:108

When we bring our gifts of money to God, we are worshipping Him. When we give, it’s also a good example to our children.  They are watching what we do even when we aren’t aware of it.  Since our children were old enough to deal with money without eating it, they have given money to the church.  I love to watch them gather up their gift, count it carefully, place it into an envelope, scrawl their name and amount in large child-manuscript across the envelope, and tote it off proudly to church. Giving feels good because we were created to give, and everything we have belongs to God anyway!  God instructs us to give and blesses a cheerful, obedient giver.  But an offering can be so much more than monetary gifts.

Prayer is an offering and an act of worship.  In Matthew 6 we are instructed to offer our prayers sincerely without trying to impress others. We are to praise and honor God, give Him our lives, worries, guilt, fears, temptations, hurts, and sins.  We have a choice.  We can panic or we can pray!

Our Spiritual gifts and talents can be used as an offering as well. James 1:17 states that, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…”  It thrills me to see someone use their God given gifts to glorify and worship Him.

And last but not least, we can make an offering of our time.  How we spend our time reflects where our priorities lie.  I know people at the Ridge who stop by the church regularly to give their time.  I’ve seen people of all ages clean, pull weeds, paint, hang and finish drywall, work in the office, and many other thankless jobs.  They are serving and giving their time not for recognition but because they see something that needs to be done and they don’t hesitate to jump right in.

So now let us “Fear the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly…” Joshua 24:14

Bible Reading: Psalm 119:105-112

Take my life and make it pleasing to You, oh Lord.