ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICES

“I have received full payment and have more than enough, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Philippians 4:18, 19.

Now we have the full picture. Although giving to meet the needs of others is our duty, it is much more than our duty. Paul said that it is an act of worship! It is one of the sacrifices that we offer to God as an expression of adoration and praise to Him. Yes, we no longer need to sacrifice animals to worship the Lord but we still offer sacrifices that are pleasing to Him.

1. Our bodies – Romans 12:1

2. Our praise – Hebrews 13:15

3. Our generous attitude – Hebrews 13:16

4. Our resources – Philippians 4:18

5. Our submissive hearts – Psalm 51:17

In our meditation yesterday, we explored God’s way of keeping His resources circulating, by giving and receiving. God’s way of meeting our needs and the needs of others is through people. When we give to others, we create a current which comes back to us in our time of need and so there will be equality if we all play our part.

When people hoard their money instead of keeping it flowing, they opt out of the system and decrease the available resources to meet everyone else’s needs. We cannot claim God’s promise to meet our needs if we are not fulfilling the condition to help others. Philippians 4:19 is not blanket promise for everyone to claim, especially those who are not fulfilling the condition attached to the promise.

It amazes me how many believers have not taken the trouble to understand God’s ways. He is not a sugar daddy who indulgently dishes out whatever His children ask for, regardless of their obedience to His instructions. God works in accordance with His own laws and not in a disorderly and haphazard fashion. His law of sowing and reaping applies in the realm of agriculture and in every area of our lives as well.

“Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Galatians 6:6, 7.

When hard times come, people pray desperately for financial help but nothing happens. Why? They have mocked God by failing to sow for a harvest. Would it be right for God to give on demand and violate His own law? That would make Him unreliable, and that is unthinkable! Instead of praying for help, sow some seeds and the harvest is guaranteed.

But is it not wrong to give to get? Is it wrong to sow a field full of wheat and not expect a harvest? The point of sowing seed is to have bread to eat and seed to sow again. A farmer would be a fool if he ate all his seed or stashed it away in his barn and failed to sow for the next harvest.

Jesus told a story about a greedy farmer who had a bumper crop which he stored away in bigger barns he had built to accommodate his increased yield. He sat back to enjoy his bounty with not a thought for the God who had provided for him. God called him a fool and took his life because of his selfishness. His harvest would go to provide for others, not because he was generous but because God had others to provide for as well.

How much better when we worship the Lord for His goodness to us by caring for His children so that they, in turn can also be generous when their opportunity comes. When God can trust us not to hoard our money but to keep it circulating so that everyone has enough, He will increase the bounty He lavishes on us because He is that kind of God. But if He cannot trust us with the little we have, He cannot give us more.

Giving to God when we have little ourselves may be difficult, but it is a step of faith as well as an act of worship. God challenges us as He challenged the Israelites in Malachi 3:10:

“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.'”

Try it! God will never go back on His promise.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.