Thursday
Exodus 35:4-29, Malachi 3:10-12

In the Old Testament book of Exodus, we see the Israelites giving generously of their materials and their time to build the tabernacle. If any of those people had decided to withhold their resources or the skills they had, the tabernacle wouldn’t have come together.

God designed his church to be a united team. If we don’t generously pool our skills, time, talents, and resources, we cannot effectively execute the mission Jesus gave us before he ascended into heaven.

Only when we keep the end result in the forefront of our mind will we care less about the things of this world. At the end of our life, when we stand face-to-face with our Savior to worship him, and we give an account of how we spent our time and resources, a life well-spent is realizing we generously gave the first fruits of all we value. God created us to bring him glory. Living out that purpose means we give our time and money away now to further the kingdom and his future glory. Just like we have to remind our children, we constantly need to remind ourselves: God has given us all things so we may bless and serve others. And when we align ourselves with the mission of God, we bless and serve others for eternity. Generosity means he asks us to abandon our love for this world and, instead, cultivate a love for his mission.