Can We Out Give the Giver?

Read: 1 Chronicles 29:10-20

In today’s reading we find King David breaking out joyful expressions of praise!  He was given a vision, a task, a part to play in the greatest love story ever told. His task? 

In the Old Testament, God had provided a way for His glorious, holy, uncontainable presence to come down and be among His people. 

When God rescued His people from slavery in Egypt, they wandered around in the desert for 40 years.  God presence lead them by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night.  When the pillar of cloud or fire stopped, the presence of the Lord rested on top of the Ark of the Covenant, in the inner most room called the Holy of Holies, of the elaborately designed Tabernacle.

Now that the Children of God were settled into the promised land, King David had the burning desire to build a permanent structure for God’s presence to dwell among His people, the place where the people could rightly worship and praise Him. That place was the Temple in Jerusalem.

God had given David the vision.  He had given David the privilege of playing a part in God’s Divine plan, to build a permanent place for God to be with them.  Even though David would not be the one to build the Temple, his joy exploded!

How did that joy express itself? He gave large quantities from his own precious treasures.  Yet King David realized that even the abundance of what he was giving was so small compared to the eternal treasures of the King of Kings.

David says, “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

As we begin this Christmas season, we too are celebrating! We are celebrating the relentless love story of God who chose to live not in a temple made with stone but took on human flesh.  Jesus referred to His body as the temple that would be destroyed and raised up again in 3 days. 

He is Emmanuel, God with us!

What gift can we bring to Him?  How can I give back generously to the One who has given ALL for me?  He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! 

Lord Jesus, You are the God incarnate, the God who left Your throne in Heaven, to live among us, and to give up Your life to rescue us!  Everything I have is Yours!  Help me to see how I can have the privilege to give generously back to You, to play a part in the unfolding of Your Divine love story to this world.