Cheerful giver!
2 Corinthians 9:7“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
We have fasting prayer on Saturdays, the school children and teachers also attend the meeting; however, I have to tread very finely as I preach the Word, because children and teachers from various religions attend the meeting. One day I wondered, while they have prayer in the morning assembly everyday with worship and Bible reading, should they attend the Saturday Prayer meeting???? Boy! Bang came the reply on the very same day from God! Unexpectedly a teacher from our school shared her testimony and said that normally when she exhausts her cash balance in her mobile, she would hastily and swiftly avail the ‘loan on mobile’ facility and top up her mobile and thereby she would have to pay a small amount as interest charges; however, after listening to my sermons in the Saturday fasting prayer meetings, she determined her heart not to take any kind of loan – big or small. Observe the words ‘determined her heart!’ Besides the students, the teachers also were being blessed!
Friend, this is what you call as determining your heart to do the right thing or firmness of purpose! You can give 1000 excuses for not doing the right thing: I had to take the loan because of emergency, I had no other go, payment overdue, doctor bill and so on; nevertheless, there are few who would put their foot down and never transgress the Word of God – come what may. God said: “For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. ….” Did you hear that? Today, we see people borrowing for very flimsy reasons and also out of greed, pomp and lavishness. Caveat! There are hounds placed in all the showrooms that sell electronic and household gadgets who offer ‘easy loans’ for vulnerable people who just cannot resist the glossy gadgets. We think plethora of electronic appliances would save time in the kitchen! There is ecstasy and agony with appliances: ecstasy when you open the seal and find a place for it in the kitchen, agony comes when you have to pay the EMI! Anybody listening?
All they need is your salary slip! Oh yeah! Your salary slip! The enemy is out to grab your resources! Besides the various EMIs , hand cash, loan via demand drafts, holiday loans and what not are taken with nothing left for God in the end! This is the sad scenario of today’s gadget-freak generation!
How many of you are faithful in the matter of money towards your God? How many of you think of the Hands of God that has blessed you on the day when your salary gets credited? Do you think of the heaps of loans or the heaps and heaps of love that your God showered on you? I taught my friend through Bible scriptures about managing money wisely and giving offerings to God, who did not believe in tithing nor offerings; however, when she started faithfully to give her offerings to God, she was immensely blessed.
Open your hands and give Him the best! Don’t tip Him. Don’t give Him your left overs. Don’t give Him grudgingly, don’t give Him sloppily, pull out that which is special in your wallet and give Him right away.
