The giving that pleases God

John 4:7- 10. 

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “GIVE me a drink.” For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to him, How is it that you being a Jew, ask a Samaritan woman?”

For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

Isaiah 55:10

For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, But water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give SEED to the SOWER and BREAD to the EATER.

1 Corinthians 9:17

For if I do this WILLINGLY, I have a reward…

Philemon 14

But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but VOLUNTARY.

Exodus 25:2

Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who GIVES it WILLINGLY with his heart you shall take My offering.

Exodus 35:5

Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a WILLING heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze;

1 Chronicles 29:6, 9, 14, 17

Then the leaders of the father’s houses, leaders of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the officers over the king’s work, offered WILLINGLY.

Then the people rejoiced, for they had OFFERED WILLINGLY, because with a loyal HEART they had OFFERED WILLINGLY to the Lord; and king David also rejoiced greatly.

But who am I, and who are my people that we should be able to offer so WILLINGLY as this?

I know also my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have WILLINGLY OFFERED all these things; and now with joy I have seen your people, who are present here to OFFER WILLINGLY to you.

The Samaritan lady did not have the identity of the fellow who asked her for a drink. Just as the rich man (who didn’t care for Lazarus while he was alive and lying at his gate Luke 16:19- 31) did not realize that Lazarus was God’s extended arm. The same goes for the priest and Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Unfortunately, like them, many of us shrink back from taking up what you’d call ‘divinely-offered opportunities.’ We give all kinds of excuses. For example, ‘I don’t have time’, ‘You know how it is, living in such a big city as this’, etc.  The unpredictability of life to the extent that you are here now, and are gone the next minute is reason enough for us to avoid the snare of giving excuses, especially in response to God’s request for our time, talent and money.

I want you to esteem God’s invitation to you to give of your time and talent. Zaccheaus was overjoyed when Jesus said he was coming to his house.

As a born again Christian, you belong to the privileged who have become partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. And don’t forget that whenever God makes such demands of you it is because He wants to bless you. He wants to give you SEED AND BREAD. What’s the difference between seed and bread? One is for sowing while the other is for eating. These two elements are always in God’s gifts to you. This is the generosity of God. He is always beyond and above measure. If you gave him a cup of water he doesn’t give you just a cup of water in return. He ensures that what he gives you can quench your thirst, and those of others. This is always the case except when man interferes with God’s process; when a recipient of God’s generosity eats both the bread and the seed. Anytime you buy an orange, you buy the fruit and the seed. You eat the fruit, but throw away, or sow the seed. God ensures that you have more fruits to eat after you must have finished the first. Interestingly, these days man has started making seedless grapes for Agriculture. That’s a topic for another day.

A good look at most of the above passages reveals the high level of WILLINGNESS in the giving of many who have gone before us. This is one quality that must coat our giving if we want to please the Lord with it. In the Christendom, the emphasis on giving is that it must be a voluntary offering. When God invites you to give, he wants to see a willing attitude. No one comes as a result of compulsion.

Another dimension of a willing offering is that it is offered spontaneously; on the spur of the moment. Let this spontaneity characterize your offerings from now. Adopt the ‘fastness’ of Peter when it comes to giving. Recall that he was quick to leave the boat when the Lord bid him come. He walked on water subsequently. He became the only human with such a record. I cannot overemphasize the importance of having willing hearts as we give of ourselves to the Lord. Let me remind you that the Lord has been involved in the building of three tabernacles THE TABERNACLES OF MOSES, SOLOMON’S, AND THE CHURCH. The church is currently his primary preoccupation. He is collaborating with members of the body of Christ to conform them to the image of His Son Jesus. Those of us who are co-laborers with him in this regard would do well to apply this key ingredient to our life. May God help us. Amen.