Giving from Your Everyday Life

Scripture: So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing; for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work. Exodus 36:6-7

Observation: As work on the tabernacle begins, the people bring the materials needed. They bring so much, that it is literally too much. There is no need for any more, and yet the desire to continue to freely give is so strong that Moses must make a proclamation for them to stop giving.

This act of giving in order to create a tabernacle for the Lord to dwell in is juxtaposed against the fabrication of the golden calf. When Israel created the golden calf, they did so out of their ornamental wealth, with one person working to create the idol. This act was a great sin against the Lord, and as their punishment the calf was destroyed and the gold utterly wasted, and going forward the people did not wear ornamental jewelry anymore.

By contrast, when the people are giving to the Lord correctly, they do so from their normal everyday goods ... skins and cloth and wood, along with their own labor to fabricate walls and coverings and carvings and moldings and structures. They give freely from their everyday lives, and are so excited - and rewarded - by such giving that they have to be ordered to stop.

Application: My wife and I have been speaking a lot about giving lately, partly because of campaigns at church, but also as we teach Financial Peace University. We give our full tithe, and we give offerings as we feel called to do so, and we give to individual needs when moved as well. Sometimes I feel like we should give more, and sometimes I feel frustrated that others don't give as they should. Of course it is wrong of me to judge others in this matter, as it is only God who can judge them. However, I also recognize that they are missing out when they fail to give as they should.

That applies to me as well. I must not give out of my 'ornamental' excess. Instead, I must give joyfully from my normal everyday resources. My tithe is the start. I could cut some daily expenses and give randomly to other purposes of the Lord too. How great would it be if we were to give so much someone had to tell us to stop?!

Prayer: Lord, may my heart of giving be influenced by this model of the tabernacle. May I lean into more and more giving from my normal, everyday life. May I find ways to simply trim some meaningless spending and dedicate it instead to you, Lord. Amen.