When God Says No ..
When God Says No ..
D . Jason , Missionary , BYM
WillGod reject our offerings ? Will He not accept us and our offering as we are ? Is His love not unconditional ?
Isa1:13 - “ Bring no more vain offerings ; incense is an abomination to me . New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly .”
Here we find God telling the people of Israel not to bring any more offerings to Him . Their offerings did not please Him . Their life was an abomination in His sight and hence God rejected their offerings .
In pagan cultures , people give to deities in order to get blessed . They make an offering expecting that it will be paid back with greater dividends . This pagan practice has influenced Christian thinking . Born in a country where blind faiths are often intermingled with the genuine , it would be very hard to differentiate between the two .
Recently we were in need of a huge amount of money for a missionary programme . I prayed for few people who can give large amount of money , instead of many people giving small amounts of money . But God gently corrected me that it was not a Biblical principle .
In God ' s sight a small offering is of a great value when it is given with a sincere heart . The world will respect people who are big donors , but for us children of God , we always need to have His perspective .
Many a time , God accepts a small gift from us and makes it a great blessing to many people . Oh ! How many times we have forfeited this blessing expecting some great things from Heaven . But God will bless us when we start with what we have .
In the Bible we come across God ' s men who rejected offerings from men . Let us meditate four such people .
1 ) Abraham
Gen 14:22 -23 - “ But Abram said to the king of Sodom , “ I have lifted my hand to the Lord , God Most High , Possessor of heaven and earth , that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours , lest you should say , ' I have made Abram rich .' I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten ....”
Here we find Abraham rejecting the generous offer of the king of Sodom . Abraham was not attracted towards Sodom and its goods . Further , he was very careful not to attribute his financial blessing to a pagan king . This must be one of our strongest drives in life as long as we live in this earth . God alone should be glorified through our life . There should be no one in our life who can say - ' I have made you great .' When we find such a kind of attitude
| PAGE 7 |