Romans 11:33-36
33 O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him,
to receive a gift in return?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
With what can we come before the Lord in offering? What do you get the One who created everything?
Our offerings are in response to what God has given us – it is our Thank You to God for all we have.
My dad shared a story about when he was in college and had gone to church one Sunday. He put a check in the offering plate as it came by. Later that week, he received a thank you note from the pastor for his contribution. My dad told me he didn’t have the heart to tell the pastor that he was making change out of the offering plate so he could do laundry! Oh my.
What does God want from us?
What God Requires
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? —Micah 6:6-8
Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly.
What God desires is not for us to give to God, but to give to each other, and in doing so, we serve God.
Loving Jesus by serving others.
P.S. – Please don’t make change in the offering plate!
Let us pray:
Dear God, for all that we have and all that we are, we thank you. May our lives reflect your love for us in all that we say and do for those we encounter today. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.