Have you thought lately about what you are saying to God when you give on the first day of the week when the church assembles? While we give without uttering a word from our lips, God knows what are our motives, our thoughts, and our purposes. “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10).
Our giving on the first day of the week is to be in proportion to how much God has prospered us. “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:2). When you give on the first day of the week, you are saying to God that “I am giving in proportion to how You have prospered me.”
Our giving on the first day of the week is to be from a willing mind. “For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12). When you give, you are saying to God that “I freely and willingly contribute this for the work of the Lord.”
Our giving on the first day of the week is to be as we have purposed in our heart. “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart” (2 Corinthians 9:7). When you give, you are saying to God that “I have given this very careful thought and have soberly determined that this is what I will give.”
Our giving on the first day of the week should be bountifully. “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). When you give, you are saying to God that “I am sowing bountifully in this contribution I am making.”
Our giving on the first day of the week should be done cheerfully. “…not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). When you give, you are saying to God that “I gladly and cheerfully give this for the work of the Lord.”
And our giving on the first day of the week is a matter of faith – faith that when we give as commanded with the right motive, attitude, and purpose, we trust God will take care of us. “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). When you give, you are saying to God that “I trust You to continue to provide for and care for me even as I give this gift.”
If you or I cannot say these things with confidence, we should decide to examine ourselves and our giving to the Lord and then continue to consider each week how we give. We want to be able to say these things. God knows. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
-Larry Jones