Today’s Devotion
Topic: Giving Back To God As A Sign Of Gratitude.
Text: Deut 26: 1- 3, 9- 10.
1 When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, 2 take some of the first fruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name.
3 and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before Him. Amen.
Courtesy and etiquette are virtues that are taught us by our parents and teachers right from our “toddler” stages. They teach us to say “please”, “thank you” and “I am sorry” to demonstrate how polite, mannered and well groomed we are. They would often explain how important it is for us to say “thank you” whenever someone went out of his/her way to show us kindness. To them, once we are able to sincerely thank the benefactor, at least that same day and another, then we have fulfilled all that which is required to prove our appreciation.
In as much as the above is very true and generally the most acceptable demonstration of gratitude, when it comes to our relation with God, a little more than “a thank you” is required.
First of all, each gift and blessing from God is aimed at necessarily getting us closer to Him and encouraging us to live lives that should glorify Him. These blessings are to remind us: where we have been, where we could have been and where we are now so that worship is automatically induced.
For this reason, a mere thank you will not be enough unless it’s accompanied by the decision to offer one’s whole life as a token of our deepest gratitude. You see with God, each thank you is also a covenant that says, “you are my God and I belong to you. Your promises are sure so I will live for you”.
Secondly, expressing a “thank you” from our hearts and living in a manner that glorifies and emulates God is still not enough to express our gratitude to God for all He does for us. We are to take from the abundance He gives, a portion worthy of the King He is and give it back to Him as an offering of thanksgiving.
From the very basket of abundance, we must take a portion and offer it to God to demonstrate our will to share all we are and have with God; to support His church, its missions and ministers; to support outreach and missionary workers who labour day and night to win souls and improve lives, and to ensure there is always enough in the house of God to benefit the vulnerable, widowed, less privileged and destitute.
Meditate on the above and begin to pray. Ask God to help you realize that everything you are and have is already His. So that you do not struggle to give to support His church or His work. So when the prayer is answered for you, and the prophecy comes to pass; even when times are hard and all you have is a mite (like the widow in Like 21: 1- 4), still encourage yourself to give to God. It is a sign of gratitude for life.
A sign that converts all you have given into SEEDS that germinate to bring you more and more blessings from God. Those who sow sparingly, only reap as they have sown. But for God, HE LOVES EVERY CHEERFUL GIVER!
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