We All Have ‘Substance’ to Give!

 

“Honour the LORD with thy substance,

and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

So shall thy barns be filled with plenty,

and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”

Proverbs 3:9-10 KJV

We often hear the phrase: “He is a man of substance”; implying that the individual being spoken of is “well off”. The verse above translates the word ‘substance’ as ‘wealth’ in the NIV perhaps making it a bit clearer to some what the intent is.

The writer is telling us to honor the LORD with what we have.

We all have some ‘substance’ and we all can honor him with our substance whether that ‘substance’ is a healthy bank account of seven or more figures

 – or –

if that ‘substance’ is a meager paycheck carrying us from week to week.

We may have much.

We may have little.

Whatever we have, we honor God when we give our

offerings to Him and to His work.

Essentially, our giving is one way that we worship Him.

We have been hearing much of late about the ‘have’s’ and the ‘have not’s’ in our world.

The problem is, it tends to cause us to compare ourselves with one another.

Do you want to hear some good news?

I am not called to gauge my giving by what others are (or are not) doing.

Neither are you.

We are to give, not as an exercise in one-upmanship, but out of a grateful and thankful heart to God.

If I am obedient to Him in my giving I realize two things:

Second; I will never, never, never out give God.

Not that it was ever possible to begin with.

As a matter of fact, it’s already too late for that.

Who can give more than what He gave us through His Son?