A Challenge from Pastor concerning this Sunday’s Jesus 1st Offering.

2 Corinthians 9:6—8 “⁶ But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. ⁷ Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:”

 On any given day, most of us can afford to give a few dollars to just about anything that we wish. God’s word addresses giving through the imagery of sowing seed. Paul stated that if we sow seed sparingly, this is to sow with little to no intention or effort, we will reap sparingly. Please allow me to paint a picture with Paul’s analogy. Imagine that you were needing to sow your lawn in grass; Everything was down to the dirt, and you had tilled up the ground and prepared it to receive grass seed. What would happen if you had an entire 50# sack of grass seed but only took one handful and threw it out in the lawn? Would you have a luscious green lawn begin to sprout up over the entirety of the lawn? No, you would have some blades of grass come up here and there where that one little handful was sown.

If our sowing to the Lord and His church is likened to that little handful of grass seed, our reaping will be just as miniscule. Paul tells us to purpose in our heart to give, and to give with freedom and liberty. We are not to give grudgingly nor are we to give as if we “HAVE” to! We should give from our heart and do so cheerfully. If we give like that, God can shower us in His grace concerning our needs.

If you are a giver, how are you giving? Are you giving with an open hand or a tightly clinched fist? Does your heart overwhelm with joy when you give? Are. You giving cheerfully? I want to encourage you to purpose in your heart to give greatly to the Lord and do so with an open hand, open heart, and a smile on your face. He has been so good to us!

Be blessed,

Pastor Ancel