giving to the Lord

1 Chronicles 28-29

^29:3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple ... ⁶ Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king's work gave willingly. ⁷ They gave toward the work on the temple of God ... ⁹ The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. ...

¹⁰ David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
       "Praise be to you, O LORD,
       God of our father Israel,
       from everlasting to everlasting.

 ¹¹ Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
       and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
       for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
       Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
       you are exalted as head over all.

 ¹² Wealth and honor come from you;
       you are the ruler of all things.
       In your hands are strength and power
       to exalt and give strength to all.

 ¹³ Now, our God, we give you thanks,
       and praise your glorious name.

Of course it involves financial giving!  Stop thinking that it is "your" money, anyway, because it is not! And NO, NO, NO!!! It is not about building a physical structure that is only going to burn in the Judgment!!! 

It is so much deeper than that!  This is all about building the Kingdom of God and His true Temple - THE CHURCH!!!  It is about giving your WHOLE LIFE to Him and His Kingdom!  Look at how King David responds:

 ¹⁴ "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.

He gives us life, breath, and everything else so that we can seek Him and cooperate with Him as He redeems and restores people to relationship with their Creator!  This is what will give us eternal joy - to spend our lives and all of our resources pursuing this ultimate goal!

Heavenly Father, please take control of my life and use every aspect of me and my family for your good plan.  I pray that I will faithfully and sacrificially invest in your Kingdom - The Church.  May I never consider ownership of the resources that you have placed in my charge, but may I always be a faithful steward to invest in your Kingdom.   I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Treasure!  Amen.