The Joyful Abundance of Freedom
Reflections on our daily reading from Exodus 36:
The Joyful Abundance of Freedom
“They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.” (Ex. 36:3 NIV11)
Yesterday we saw that God provided skilled artisans to guide and teach the people who were constructing the Tabernacle. Today we see that not only does God give instructions, and provide workers, but He also provides the material resources required through His people.
I love this part of the story because it’s so surprising. God doesn’t direct Moses to put in place a tax on the people to provide for the Tabernacle. He doesn’t even ask for a tithe. What happens is that the people see the plan, see skilled workers, and know that their God is worthy. What flows from that is worshipful and joyful giving.
They gave a lot.
In fact, it’s pretty awesome (and I’m sure very rarely repeated in Church history) that we see Moses actually has to tell them to stop! Have a listen,
“Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.” (Ex. 36:6–7 NIV11)
God had moved His people to freely give more than was needed for the work.
What can we learn? It’s worth thinking about our own giving isn’t it? Is it an act of worship? Do we see that we can contribute from what we have to see what God is doing be built? Where there’s good and godly leadership, a good plan, and worshipful hearts giving flows. A mentor of mine – Rod Irvine puts it like this; vision + trust = generous giving. I like that a lot.
I’m a pastor of a local church and it’s my reflection that money for Kingdom work is the rarest money in the world. You can fundraise for cancer treatment from the general community. Generous people or government grants might help you house the poor. But no other external agency will fund the work of giving the message of new life into the world. That’s the special and unique privilege and responsibility of God’s people.
“Dear Heavenly Father, You couldn’t have been more generous to us. You gave us Your only Son that we might be forgiven and find fellowship with You again. Please Lord, move our hearts. Fill us with worship and vision. Help us to treasure Your plan to bring men and women from every nation to worship Jesus. Move us to make that possible as we bring our time, talents, and treasure and put them at Your disposal through our local church and beyond. We ask this for Jesus’s sake. Amen.”
Stuart.
