Stop! You're giving too much!

Last week we saw how God commanded the Israelites to give willingly to the work of building the tabernacle. They weren't forced to give, though. Well, look what happened!

Exodus 36:3-7 ³ They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. ⁴ So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing ⁵ and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.”

⁶ Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, ⁷ because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.

Wow! Can you imagine being told to stop giving??!! They were restrained from giving!!!

I'm a part of a ministry that holds Bible study classes all over the world. We have been studying Exodus this year, and next year we are adding a brand new Revelation study which has taken years to prayerfully put together. This summer, the head leader for each class (1200 in total) will meet in Dallas for a week of training before starting the Revelation classes in the fall. In order to cover the cost of renting out a convention center and hotels, there was a special fund setup. We could willingly designate gifts to this special project. However, we were just told to stop giving to that fund! The necessary funds were already more than enough to cover the rest of the expected expenses! God had moved in the hearts of generous class members all over the world to give more than enough and way ahead of schedule, just like the Israelites!

Where else could God be commanding you and me to give generously and willingly until He tells us to stop?

It could be giving money to church and other godly ministries.

It could be opening our home weekly to those who need a place to stay or a home-cooked meal.

It could be offering to regularly watch someone's children.

It could be sharing our lunch break.

Alice