The Hand of the Giver

“If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee… first be reconciled to thy brother, and THEN come and offer thy gift”  (Mt. 5:23-24).

The most important thing in giving an offering to the Lord is not the offering, but the offerer—The one bringing the offering.  It is the giver who determines the worth or the worthlessness of the offering. God will not bless the giver of the gift if the giver is not right with God.

God is more interested in the hand of the giver than the gift in the hand.  “When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations… your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them… Your hands are full of blood” (Isa. 1:12-15).  The offering God accepts must be come from clean hands.  Who would eat food if it is presented with filthy hands? “Bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD” (Isa. 66:20).

Every gift is blessed by the Lord if it is given with clean hands— A song of praise sung from pure lips is music in the ears of God. But a hymn sung from a gossiping tongue strikes a sour note in God’s ears.

When giving unto the Lord, make sure your hands are holy, without wrath and doubting (1 Tim. 2:8).

Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. —1 Samuel 15:22