Give Recklessly 2

Last week we looked at the topic Give Recklessly! We found a definition for Reckless Giving. RECKLESS GIVING IS WITHOUT BOUNDARIES; IT IS UNINHIBITED, UNRESTRAINED, AND UNASHAMED. Why? Because it is worship unto God, and He is worthy of all our sacrifices of love. GIVING AS WORSHIP COMES WITH A COST. The word "recklessly" is an adverb that describes an action done without regard for the potential consequences or dangers. Let’s continue on this topic.

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 17

So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the entrance of the village he met a woman, a widow, gathering firewood. He asked her, “Please, would you bring me a little water in a jug? I need a drink.” As she went to get it, he called out, “And while you’re at it, would you bring me something to eat?”

12  She said, “I swear, as surely as your GOD lives, I don’t have so much as a biscuit. I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we’ll die.”

13–14  Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry about a thing. Go ahead and do what you’ve said. But first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then go ahead and make a meal from what’s left for you and your son. This is the word of the GOD of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before GOD sends rain on the land and ends this drought.’ ”

15–16  And she went right off and did it, did just as Elijah asked. And it turned out as he said—daily food for her and her family. The jar of meal didn’t run out and the bottle of oil didn’t become empty: GOD’s promise fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it!

17  Later on the woman’s son became sick. The sickness took a turn for the worse—and then he stopped breathing.

18  The woman said to Elijah, “Why did you ever show up here in the first place—a holy man barging in, exposing my sins, and killing my son?”

19–20  Elijah said, “Hand me your son.”

He then took him from her bosom, carried him up to the loft where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he prayed, “O GOD, my God, why have you brought this terrible thing on this widow who has opened her home to me? Why have you killed her son?”

21–23  Three times he stretched himself out full-length on the boy, praying with all his might, “GOD, my God, put breath back into this boy’s body!” GOD listened to Elijah’s prayer and put breath back into his body—he was alive! Elijah picked the boy up, carried him downstairs from the loft, and gave him to his mother. “Here’s your son,” said Elijah, “alive!”

24  The woman said to Elijah, “I see it all now—you are a holy man. When you speak, GOD speaks—a true word!”

Giving is a Command, Not a Feeling!

When we follow the Bible, we always give to God first. The tithe is the first tenth of everything we have. God gets first because He commanded us to know the tithe belongs to Him. As we follow His commands, our needs will be taken care of just like the widow’s needs. She followed Elijah’s commands. Even when her son died, God raised him from the dead because of her obedience to the command that Elijah issued.

Malachi 3:8–12 NLT

8 “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Givers Receive God’s Abundance!

Notice that if we’re not givers, we’re cheaters. We cheat God. But when we give recklessly, even though we might need that money to make our bill payments, or rent or mortgage, gas to get to work and so on. When we put God first, He not only supplies abundance, He takes care of what we work at. Our “crops”. Our homes, our businesses, our vehicles, our appliances, etc. We are blessed because we give recklessly!

Mark 12:41–44 ESV

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Giving is Worship to God!

She gave all she had. Worship

Worship means respectful devotion—loving, honoring, and obeying someone who deserves our highest regard. Remember when Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac, he told the men with them to stay put. The boy and I will go to worship and then we will come back. Worship in this case is obedience to God. When we worship it’s our opportunity to give ourselves to Him in reverence and obedience! Let’s look at this account of “worship” in Genesis 22:1–19 (MSG)

1After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, “Abraham!” “Yes?” answered Abraham. “I’m listening.”

2He said, “Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I’ll point out to you.”

3Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him.

4On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance.

5Abraham told his two young servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”

6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac his son to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. The two of them went off together.

7Isaac said to Abraham his father, “Father?” “Yes, my son.” “We have flint and wood, but where’s the sheep for the burnt offering?”

8Abraham said, “Son, God will see to it that there’s a sheep for the burnt offering.” And they kept on walking together.

9They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood.

10Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.

11Just then an angel of God called to him out of Heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes, I’m listening.”

12“Don’t lay a hand on that boy! Don’t touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn’t hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me.”

13Abraham looked up. He saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

14Abraham named that place God-Yireh (God-Sees-to-It). That’s where we get the saying, “On the mountain of God, he sees to it.”

15The angel of God spoke from Heaven a second time to Abraham:

16“I swear—God’s sure word!—because you have gone through with this, and have not refused to give me your son, your dear, dear son,

17I’ll bless you—oh, how I’ll bless you! And I’ll make sure that your children flourish—like stars in the sky! like sand on the beaches! And your descendants will defeat their enemies.

18All nations on Earth will find themselves blessed through your descendants because you obeyed me.”

19Then Abraham went back to his young servants. They got things together and returned to Beer-sheba. Abraham settled down in Beer-sheba.