For the first time in his life, lttle Jimmy went to church with his friend,
Eddie. As the offering plate passed, Jimmy said, "I got a dollar -- how
much did you get?" He misunderstood the purpose of the plate.
As I watched Alex Trebec do a TV commercial for an insurance
company, he said, "Funeral expenses are at an all time high." Big deal,
Alex, so is everything else. It's all relative.
One place where the theory of relativity doesn't hold up is in the church
offering plate. When I was a kid, an elderly man put $1 in the plate
every time it passed. Back then, $1 was a good offering, and many
times he probably couldn't afford it, but he gave faithfully. By the way,
he had a son who led me to faith in Christ. Being faithful to God pays
big dividends.
All these years later, many folks are still putting $1 in the offering plate.
Sorry, but in most cases that isn't an offering -- it hardly counts as a tip.
Why should the God of all creation have to carry on His work with our
table scraps? Our offering is probably a good barometer of our
devotion.
There are some who feel that tithing is an Old Testament law to which
we are no longer obligated under our age of Grace. If that is the case,
then shouldn't we want to give more -- not less? Aren't you glad that
you are living under days of Grace instead of under the oppressive law?
Then we should show it with our giving. Makes sense, doesn't it?
In the small book of Philemon, 1:6, (nlt) we read, "You are generous
because of your faith. And I am praying that you will really put your
generosity to work, for in so doing you will come to an understanding
of all the good things we can do for Christ." 'Nuff said.
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