Jon Courson tells the story of an offering that was being taken at a revival in Africa. As the plate came past a new Christian, he told the ushers to lower the plate. “Lower, lower, lower,“ he said, until the plate touched the ground. At that point, he stood up and stepped into the plate. This new believer understood that giving begins when we give ourselves to the Lord.
In our text today, Paul is going to encourage the Corinthians to give generously to the monetary gift going to Jerusalem. He will use the Macedonians as examples of people who abounded in giving because they had first given themselves to the Lord. When we give ourselves to the Lord, we are in return given a nature of giving.
May God begin to teach us today about the joy and blessings of giving generously to His work,
George