Bible Reading: II Chronicles 29:20-36
Key
Verse: Verse 31 – “Then Hezekiah answered and said,
Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD,
come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings
into the house of the LORD. And the congregation
brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a
free heart burnt offerings.”
Key Words: thank offerings
Hezekiah
as king accomplished a number of things.
He was king when God defeated the Assyrian army. He was king when God gave him fifteen years
of additional life; but in our text Hezekiah, the king, had led the nation back
into temple worship. The people had been
worshipping false gods, but through Hezekiah’s dedication to God the altars of
the false gods were destroyed and worship of Jehovah was returned. As a result of this change, Hezekiah had the
priests cleanse themselves and had the people give an offering of thanksgiving
to God.
Our giving, as
well, is a reflection of our gratitude toward God.
The
following story sadly illustrates many believers’ gratitude toward the
blessings of God.
“Once upon a
time there was a man who had nothing, and God gave him ten apples.
He gave him
the first three apples to eat.
He gave him
the second three apples to trade for shelter from the sun and rain.
He gave him
the third three apples to trade for clothing to wear.
He gave him
the last apple to give back to God in order that he could show his gratitude
for the other nine.
The man ate
the first three apples.
He traded the
second three apples for shelter from the sun and rain.
He traded the
third three apples for clothing to wear.
Then he looked
at the tenth apple. It seemed bigger and
juicier than the rest. He knew that God
had given him the tenth apple so that he might demonstrate his love and
gratitude by returning it to God. But it
was so much bigger and juicier than the rest; and he began to reason within
himself, ‘God has all the other apples in the orchard, he’ll not miss this
one.’ So the man ate the apple and gave
God the core.”
Now, the moral of this story is this: It is
not about the apple – it is about you and me and our attitude of
gratitude. Do you demonstrate
thankfulness to God through your giving?
What to do:
✞ Lay aside a minimum of ten percent of everything you receive and give it to God
(through your local church).
✞ Teach this principle to
your children.
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