The Offering Life

I asked our teens last night - and I plan to propose the same question to the entire congregation when I preach next week - imagine the elders asking everyone in the congregation to submit an "offering form" rather than money in the contribution plate on Sunday. All you would have to do is list the things you did for God that week; time spent in prayer, reading your Bible, helping the needy, serving in your community, honoring your elders, showing grace rather than hate, etc. What would you put on your list? Would you be able to think of anything to write besides simply going to church? What are you "offering" God in your life?

My guess is most of us aren't that purposeful. We might do nice things but we rarely think of doing them in the name of, or because of, Jesus. Many of us work hard to be loving, supportive spouses. But do we do it for ourselves or because we want to honor God in our marriage? Some of us also put a lot of energy into our parenting. But do we strive to be great parents because we want everyone to go on and on and on and on about how wonderful our children are or because we want to honor God through our parenting (that one strikes a nerve with me)?

The point is, a lot of people do a lot of nice things everyday. But are we using those opportunities to share Jesus or to sustain our comfort levels? Sit down at some point this weekend and decide on a day next week when you are going to be purposeful about glorifying God with your life. See what happens when we're just as purposeful about living an "offering life" as we are about adding to the offering plate.