Daily devotional, December 11, 2023 The Surplus

"Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." Proverbs 3:9-10

Christmas is a time of giving, and so most charity groups appeal to the generosity of people and conduct donation drives during December. And while these are usually received with enthusiasm, majority of givers remain in the mindset of giving from their excesses. Surpluses after all are unneeded things in our home, items we have too much of, or we no longer appreciate.

Giving from our extras is almost the default way of giving because it is a way of ensuring our own security when it comes to provisions. Unfortunately, this mindset is not limited to what we offer to others, it also becomes the default way of giving when we offer our time, talent and treasure to the Lord. When it comes to time, the Lord is not our top priority for the day, and sadly even on Sundays. For some, worship time depends on what we are planning to do and where we plan to go.

This should not be so, because our God deserves only the best from us. In the Book of Numbers, the firstborn of every livestock. and first fruit of the crops are required as an offering before the Lord. According to biblical scholars this kind of giving is an act of faith since there is a possibility that the livestock or the crops would not yield as much the next time. But offering still means that we put our God into our highest priority.

"You must present as the Lord’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’" 
Numbers 18:29

To those who submit to this premise, the Lord has an even more bountiful promise. And truly, as they say, we humans can never outgive our provident and generous God:

"The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow." 
Deuteronomy 28:12

The message of the above passage was echoed in the Book of the Prophet Malachi with a promise of overwhelming blessing:

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows." Malachi 3:10

Apart from tithes and personal donations, the New Testament tells us that we give to the Lord when we share our blessings to others:

"Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,you did it to me.’" 
Matthew 25:37-40

The most important thing in giving though, as St. Paul reminds us, is that we should give with a happy heart. That we do not grumble as we share to the church and to our fellowmen:

"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 
2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Giving is also God’s way of keeping us from being too materialistic and guarding our hearts from greed (Matthew 6:21). When we give to the Lord and to others, we also celebrate being alive, we celebrate our being blessed. Just as we throw victory parties and milestone celebrations, let our every day act of giving be our celebration of God’s presence and blessings in our own life.

Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Matthew 25:35-40 to dig deeper on today’s topic.

Reflection Question: What is your mindset in giving to the church and to others? Do you have to make an adjustment following the above verses?

Conversation with the Lord:  Heavenly Father, thank you for all the blessings you have bestowed upon me. Please give me a cheerful giving heart, and a mind that realizes that everything comes from you. Amen.