An Offertory Devotional video for Sabbath, August 13, 2022, in your @adventistchurch: vimeo.com/716535024. Putting God first can be difficult. What can we learn from this video that will help us put God first in our lives today?
Also available in #Spanish and #Portuguese.
Put #GodFirst
#StewardshipMinistries
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For more information on the Stewardship Ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, you can head over to stewardship.adventist.org/ ______________________________________________
We can worship with our resources when we follow God’s instructions about economy
and savings. In several instances, God has taught His children the practice of savings. He
inspired Joseph, the son of Jacob, to advise Pharaoh not to eat everything during the seven
years of abundance but to keep 20 percent for later. On the night the Israelites had to celebrate
the first Passover, before leaving Egypt, God’s first instruction was for them to choose the right
size of lamb according to the number of people in each family. At the end of the multiplication of bread and fish, the clear admonition was to “let nothing be wasted.”
This same message about penny-wise is pertinent for today. We are preparing and eating
more than what we need daily, buying more than what we need to wear, and building houses
with far more space than what we need to live. This consumption-oriented society influences
us to adopt a criterion other than need to acquire goods: If I can pay for it with available or
borrowed money, there is no problem with purchasing it. This can be socially acceptable, but is
this good stewardship?
Saving will help us to prepare for life emergencies, realize major financial goals, prepare for
retirement, leave a financial legacy, and to enjoy other benefits. Furthermore, we will be in a
better position to partner in God’s mission. Jesus and His missionary crew were supported by
a group of women who used their own means (Luke 8:3). The early church members sold their
properties to provide for the beginning of the Christians’ mission (Acts 4:34, 35). Ellen G. White
challenges us to properly channel our resources: “Each should keep a missionary box at hand,
and drop into it every penny he is tempted to waste in self-indulgence” (Counsels on Stewardship, p. 291).
Is it not time to identify and fix the leakages in our financial lives? This week we have another
opportunity to use our savings to worship God by bringing our tithe and regular offerings, called
Promise, to Him.