Hi guys,

Thought I'll post up a summary of what I shared during CG for the past two weeks so that we can reflect and pray, as well as for the benefit of those who were not with us. Take time to think and reflect. =)

What does it mean to give? (Part 1)

Have you ever wondered what true giving is? When was the last time you gave a gift, rendered a service or did something for someone without really expecting anything in return?

I want to focus on our giving to God and what it entails. This is not just about giving of our tithes and offerings, or serving in ministry. It's about a lifestyle of worship and how much us God has.

You see, many of us are already serving in some area of ministry. In fact I just did a mental count and realised that at least 7 of our CG members are serving in worship ministries in the church! What does it mean to give in ministry? It can get really dry and mundane sometimes doing the same things over and over again, and we may lose the focus of giving of ourselves, our time, energy and resources. Some of us may even be doing it more because you are interested in music or playing a particular musical instrument.

I believe that giving to God is much more than just serving in a particular ministry. Those of us who do not belong to any church ministry, take heart. It definitely doesn't mean you are not giving at all! Let's look at two different examples of how two women gave to Jesus:

The Poor Widow's Offering (Mark 12:41-44)

Jesus was sitting opposite the place where people placed their offerings into the temple treasury. In our context today, this means Jesus was present at the offering time during 3rd Service when the bags are passed around! All the high and mighty, rich and famous put in large amounts from their deep pockets. After which, along came a poor widow who placed 2 small copper coins that were worth a fraction of a penny (hardly worth anything today).

Now we all know that Jesus said this poor widow gave more than all the others. If you think about it logically, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that what the widow gave would not make ANY difference at all. It wasn't going to help the needy or pay for anything; perhaps she should have even kept it for her own livelihood. But I think God is showing us that it is not how much the gift costs, it is how much the gift costs the giver! It's the amount of sacrifice put in. Comparitively, it is much easier to give when you have plenty, but try giving when you are in lack and every dollar counts!

The Sinful Woman (Luke 7:36-50)

Here we have quite a different scenario. Jesus was having dinner at a Pharisee's house when a sinful woman brought a very expensive flask of perfume, broke it and washed his feet. The perfume was worth one year's wages!

Notice that the Pharisee did not even give Jesus any water for his feet, which was customary in those days. Hospitality! And he murmured in his heart that the woman was sinful and why in the world did Jesus allow her to even do such a thing. He completely missed the beauty of what the woman was doing. She was giving her all.

You see, people, it's not how much the gift costs, but how much the gift costs the giver. We have two examples of gifts that differed so much in their value, but God was touched by them.

How are we giving to Him today? It may sound very touchy and religious, but I believe there was nothing religious about what the sinful woman did. In fact, I think she did not give a heck about religion or what people said, because she chose to enter the house of a Pharisee knowing that Jesus was there, and knowing that the people there would mock and judge her. Still she chose to show how much Jesus meant to her.

King David (2 Samuel 24:18-25)

The last example is how King David gave. He was instructed to build an altar and offer sacrifices at the house of a person called Araunah. Araunah immediately obliged and even offered to allow David to use his own oxen so that the king need not spend unnecessarily. But David replied: "I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing". And the king offered to pay for them himself when he could easily have done otherwise.

It doesn't matter if you are a king or a widow, rich or not-so-rich. It's not how much you give, but how much of you God has. The amazing thing is, God gave us His everything too. It wasn't and angel or an agent which came down for us. Some of us may think that Jesus was able to endure the cross; after all he is God and should have some supernatural endurance. But he was also fully man! That's sacrifice! I pray we'll be able to see this!

How are we giving today? How much of you does God have? Those of us who are in ministry, you may be playing, singing, doing things etc, but are you giving to God? They say it's a "sacrifice of praise" and rightly so. May He open our eyes to what giving to Him and others means and may we find joy in that.

Jit