Here’s a little snack: 2Corinthians 9:7 says, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” Let’s take this week to break down this verse, in preparation for Sunday’s corporate gathering.
Often you will hear a partial quoting of this verse. Most will overlook the beauty, blessing and benefit of the first part of this text and flippantly recite by memory the later, “…God loveth a cheerful giver.” It’s true that much value is to be gleaned from this portion of the verse and should not be eliminated. However, much gain is forfeited by the casual reader who moves with a light finger across the page and ignores the golden nuggets found in these opening words.
“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart…” The idea is that the heart must be cheerful before our giving can be cheerful. Before giving, one must examine his or her heart to reinstate a platform of cheerfulness. You see, it is upon this cheerful platform that we set the stage for our giving. If our heart of giving isn’t as it should be, the heart of our wallet will not be either.
I’m reminded of Daniel chapter 1. Daniel was forced to eat meat and drink wine that was set forth by King Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 8 says, “”But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank…” Did you catch that? Before he could move forward with his intentions, Daniel had to get his heart right. It was then that God moved Daniel to the next level. At the end of Daniel’s testing, he faired greater than all those that ate the portion of the King’s meat and drank the King’s wine. The condition of Daniel’s heart set the stage for his intentions.
Do you want to stand before Kings? Do you desire for God to move you to the next level of giving? As you pray about your giving, pray also about your heart. Within every cheerful giver is a heart of cheefulness.
No comments:
Post a Comment