Grace Baptist Church of Arlington

This past Sunday we studied Exodus 25.  In our study we reflected on the giving of the people of Israel.  The Lord invited the people of Israel to voluntarily give up their own possessions in order that a tabernacle (a dwelling place) for the Lord might be built.  We also spent some time reflecting how this giving is similar and dissimilar to Christian giving.

It’s dissimilar in that Christians have not been invited to build a tabernacle here on earth (we are the tabernacle — the dwelling place of God the Holy Spirit), so we’re not bringing ram’s skins, goat’s skins, and planks of wood.  On the other hand there are, I think, similarities — just as the giving of Exodus 25 was voluntary, so is Christian giving in the New Testament.

The New Testament presumes Christians will give to gospel work because they want to give.  They know what the gospel has accomplished in their own hearts.  Christians give in view the great redemption that God has accomplished in freeing them from slavery to sin.  Christians give because they want to see redemption and freedom come to others who are still bound in the chains of sin.  The New Testament also presumes that Christians will give generously, and it presumes that they will give generously because they know how generous God in has been toward them in Christ.  Consider what the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:9:

“⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

The first month of a new year has gone by.  Have you evaluated and planned your giving for this year?  I would encourage you to make an initial plan of your giving for the coming year each January.  Ligon Duncan has written an article called “Ten Principles for Christian Giving.”  It is an excellent article that can help you to think and plan and pray about your giving.

Here are just a few questions from that article:  “Are you giving?  Are you giving for God’s praise or man’s?  Do you try to get by with giving as little as possible to the Lord, or do you give in view of the Lord’s costly sacrifice?  Are you really giving in proportion to the material blessing that the Lord has given you?  Is your giving to the Church something you do wholeheartedly, or indifferently, or grudgingly?  Is there joy in your heart as you give?  Can you truly be characterized as a ‘cheerful giver?”

One of the reasons we don’t give is because we don’t think about our giving (financial or otherwise), so take some time to think about the ways in which you are joyfully giving to the glory of God.

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Under Church, Reflections