Prayer: Father, You are the initiator, creator, the original. You establish new with Your people. Amen.
Reading: 2 Chronicles 30 key: vs. 26-27 “There was great joy in Jerusalem, for nothing like this had happened in Jerusalem since the time of Solomon son of David king of Israel. Then the Levitical kohanim arose and blessed the people, and Adonai heard their voice, for their prayer reached heaven, His holy dwelling place.” TLV
Attention: We must be familiar with the celebration of the newly completed Temple of Solomon found in 1 Kings 8. The scope of the event was on a level never before seen. I wrote on 1 Kings 8, on October 22, 2023. The archived journals can be found on our website for First Place Ministries.
To put the account of Hezekiah’s Temple sacrificing into perspective, Solomon provided 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Hezekiah provided 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep. Both ceremonies lasted 14 days, but Solomon’s Temple ceremony and Passover, was far grandeur. Still, by the record of the Chronicles, Israel had not seen anything like it since the time of Solomon.
Imagine still, if you were a rancher or king, taking 1,000 bulls out of your livestock. It was a considerable sacrifice. Is our giving sacrificial? Does it make us wince? A sacrifice is not a sacrifice unless it makes us reach deep. A sacrifice shows the depth of our love for God. Much is required of us who have much. Those who are poor may be giving a greater percentage than those who are rich.
The New Testament measure is described in the word “all.” The New Covenant is to love God with “all” your heart. When the disciples were invited to follow Jesus, that left “everything” and followed Him. I am not saying I have achieved the New Testament standard. But if we continue to use Old Testament standards, we are using a tithe to measure our standard of giving and not the New Testament standard. May we pivot to the New and give God our “all.”
Action: I choose to love God with all my heart, all my mind, and all my soul.
Yield: I choose to submit my heart, mind, and soul, unto Messiah.
Engage: I choose to engage in giving more to God.
Relationship: I choose to live in humble, intimate, obedient relationship with God.
Prayer: Father, Solomon, and Hezekiah gave much to You in celebration of the Passover feast and remembering the great things You have done. But they still did not give You their all. Help us to give our all, our mind, our heart, and our soul to You. Amen.
Memory Verse: Matthew 22:35-37 “And testing Him, one of them, a lawyer, asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ TLV
Music Video: Hillsong—I Give You My Heart
https://youtu.be/mZGzu6oI9b4?si=PortbMlvfv_H0C3T
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”