My Daily Pause

The Lord hates both these things:
dishonest weights and dishonest measures. – Proverbs 20:10 NCV

The Lord hates dishonest weights,
and dishonest scales do not please him. – Proverbs 20:23 NCV

Christians are supposed to operate under an assumption that the Lord will take care of us. That means we aren’t to worry about the basics of life (Matthew 6:25-34) and we are to be generous, fair and confident. Here is how it works:

… give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. – Luke 6:38 ESV

Generous, fair and confident in the Lord. How does increasing any of these change your life?

A combination of some things have me thinking about my giving:

• I am planning my goals for the new year, which begins in less than 60 days!
• I am working on the church budget over my areas of responsibility
• I have been assigned to pray over the offering during services this month.

When we look at God’s instructions to the Israelites concerning their giving and charity, He expected a lot out them! Most people would answer the question “How much?” with 10%, but when we read deeper, the net amount was much more. Farmers couldn’t cut the corners of the field, glean the crops or even pick up what they had dropped. If it weren’t for that, Ruth would have never met Boaz. In fact if the Jews had totally followed the spirit of the law, their nation would never have wanted for anything.

In New Testament times, we don’t have exact amounts assigned to give, but we can see from the Jews example what God considers reasonable. There are also a number of adverbs used to describe what our giving is supposed to look like. I challenge us all to compare our giving to each of these passages:

• Liberally – Luke 6:38
• Sacrificially – Hebrews 13:16
• Cheerfully – 2 Corinthians 9:7
• Purposefully – 2 Corinthians 9:7
• Secretly – Matthew 6:3-4

There are always plenty of needs and more we can do. What can we do to stop money from being the reason we fall short?

Daily Bible reading for November 4

Psalm 95
2 Kings 4
Zechariah 8
John 1:19-51

Yesterday we took a quick look at what we are to treasure. We saw Jesus condemn the man that thought it was wise to store up his wealth as if he had forever to spend it. In fact, not only are we supposed to use whatever wealth we have in God’s service, we are to be good givers as well. Good givers are the kind that give without expecting anything in return.

Here are five ways we are supposed to give:

• Liberally (Luke 6:38)
• Sacrificially (Hebrews 13:16)
• Cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7)
• Purposefully (2 Corinthians 9:7)
• Secretly (Matthew 6:3-4)

If any one of these adverbs are left out of the act of giving, the meaning and the benefit is diminished. Take your giving to the next level and see how your heart follows!

Daily Bible reading for September 19

Psalm 49
2 Samuel 9
Ezekiel 9
Luke 12:49-13:9

We are almost exactly six months from “Black Friday” so it seems like a good time to have a refresher on the spirit of giving. Giving is a subject that to some, is highly personal and sensitive. Some preachers even have a hard time talking about it from the pulpit.

While the Bible teaches us to be liberal givers, there is some amount of balance required. Solomon stressed a strong work ethic (Proverbs 21:25-26) because of the folly of idleness. Paul taught us to do good for all (Galatians 6:10), but gave a warning in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 to not be careless in our giving, thus allowing some to “work the system”. There are a number of reason why:

• Idleness is a sin and the recipient is not motivated to work
• The giver becomes an accomplice to the idleness
• The truly needy lose out
• Idleness spreads through the community as a way of life

probably worst of all, the spirit of giving is stretched thin when idle people are encountered claiming they are needy.

Paul advised us not to become weary of doing good (2 Thessalonians 3:13) and Solomon taught that generosity creates blessing (Proverbs 22:9).

Sooooo … How do we balance our charity since there is no quick and easy formula for learning how? Perhaps we gain wisdom from the actual practice of generous giving.

Daily Bible reading for May 24

Psalm 143
Numbers 28-29
Isaiah 66
2 Thessalonians 3:6-18

Paul gave a lot of attention to our giving. He wants us to understand that a heartfelt gift is something that God loves to see. (2 Corinthians 9:7) The proverb writer said it this way:

The Lord hates sacrifices brought by evil people, particularly when they offer them for the wrong reasons. – Proverbs 21:27 NCV

For more about what the Bible says about our giving look at these 6 Giving Attitudes.

Daily Bible Reading for April 15

God give Moses the law of purification after childbirth. Isaiah tells about the time after exile.

Psalm 105
Leviticus 12
Isaiah 11-12
2 Corinthians 8-9