“But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal.” (Matthew 6:20). In this passage Jesus was describing to us what He had seen to be the truth of what occurs when we give of our finances… our treasures are transferred up to heaven.
He also was accurately illustrating of what happens in that everything we gather on earth is eventually destroyed… and conversely, everything that we gather (give) towards heaven will last eternally.
tithes, offerings or financial blessings to individuals? We are taking what were originally earthly dollars and they are being converted into heavenly dollars, by our loving Father who knows all.
Read in Mark 12 the account of the widow’s mite. There were many rich persons casting large amounts, but it was the widow offering two mites who captured the attention of Jesus. It was because He knew she gave all that she had, which is why He said “she has put in more than all those contributing to the treasury.” That response from Jesus tells us how He looks upon our hearts and not at the surface.
Recently our church completed an annual special offering to help feed the people of Haiti, who are still continuing to recover from a devastating earthquake in 2010. Those funds helped to feed those in great need, and our Father promises to remember it as being unto Him – “Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least of these My brethren, you did it for Me.” (Matthew 25:40)
This scripture also refers to rewards that come from giving outside of finances. It speaks of welcoming and lodging a stranger, visiting and ministering to the sick and coming to see one in prison.
As we consider the unseen penetrations of our giving - financial and otherwise, we will be more eager to help and cheerful in the process, which in 2 Corinthians 9 is shown to be the attitude that God loves… “He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without a cheerful, joyous, “prompt to do it” giver, whose heart is in his giving.”
Lastly, be encouraged to exercise your faith and your “spiritual eyes” to the vastness that is God’s Kingdom, which we can experience from reading His Word and obeying – “Consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.”
God Bless you and may He show Himself greatly to you,
Paul
