Give From Your Heart
“And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts
into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two
mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in
more than they all: For all of these have of their abundance cast in unto the
offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she
had.” (Luke 21:1-4 KJV)
Several years ago while listening to my pastor preach on the importance of
giving, God spoke to my heart and said “Give the lady sitting in front of you
all of your money.” I wasn’t sure that I had understood Him correctly. I had
less than one dollar in my purse. At the end of the service as we stood and sang
the closing hymn, God spoke to my heart again and told me the same thing.
As the congregation started to leave the sanctuary, I stopped the lady and said
“God told me to give you this.” I didn’t give her dollar bills; I only gave her
a few coins. When I got home from church, I was embarrassed because I didn’t
have a lot of money to give her.
The following Sunday when I went to church, after the sermon was over and we
were starting to leave the lady stopped me and with tears in her eyes said
“Thank you for the money you gave me last Sunday. It was the exact amount I
needed to buy something that my son had to have.”
We may not have money to give as we would like to but all of us can give from
our hearts. We can give smiles and laughter. We can give people unconditional
love, forgiveness, understanding, patience, compassion, tenderness and hope.
Of course, unless we have the love of Jesus in our hearts it will be impossible
for us to give from our hearts. We must first have our sins forgiven and
cleansed by the atoning blood of the Christ of Calvary. Are you giving from your
heart? You may not be able to give money to people but you can tell them of a
risen Saviour and about His unconditional love for Him.
What are you giving to Jesus? Are you giving back to Him what He has given to
you? If He has given you the ability to preach, sing or write for Him, are you
doing these things? If not, you are not only living a life of disobedience, you
are also hurting Him and breaking His heart. After all that He has done for us,
how dare you and I not give back to Him what He has given to us and what belongs
to Him?
One day we will stand before a Holy God. How will we feel if He says to us “Why
did you mistreat my Son?” I don’t know about you but I don’t want to have to
hang my head in shame because I didn’t serve Jesus. After all that He has done
for me, how can I do less than give all that He has given me back to Him? The
more I fall in love with Jesus, the more I want to make Him happy.
Making Jesus happy should be our top priority in life. If making Jesus happy is
not your first priority, then your life is in vain. After all that Jesus has
suffered for you and given to you, the desire to serve Him and make Him happy
should be a burning desire in your heart. Again, is making Jesus happy your top
priority in life?
Joanne Lowe
September 20, 2008 joannelowe8@cox.net
http://joannelowe.synthasite.com/