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
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