Willing Hearts (Blogging Through the Bible)

Today in Exodus 35 we are back to the business of building and furnishing the tabernacle. 

Giving to God is an act of worship. God could have performed a miracle to supply everything that was needed in the building and furnishing of the tabernacle, but He chose instead to fund the work from the gifts of the people who had willing hearts to give.

The single characteristic of the people in Exodus 35 who were involved in the building and furnishing of the tabernacle was their willingness to give (Exodus 35:5, 21, 22, 29).

They had willing hearts.

An offering to God is what a person separates from what belongs to him/her and marks it as belonging to God.

The Tabernacle Offerings Presented

²⁰ And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. ²¹ Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. ²² They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the Lord. ²³ And every man, with whom was found blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair, red skins of rams, and badger skins, brought them. ²⁴ Everyone who offered an offering of silver or bronze brought the Lord’s offering. And everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. ²⁵ All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. ²⁶ And all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair. ²⁷ The rulers brought onyx stones, and the stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate, ²⁸ and spices and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. ²⁹ The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the Lord, all the men and women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the Lord, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done. ~Exodus 35:20-29

Everything we have comes from God and ultimately belongs to God. Moses presented the need to the Israelites of all that was necessary in the building and furnishing of the tabernacle. Verse 20 of Exodus 35 tells us that once the need was presented, the people departed from Moses. I suppose they went back to their tents to think about (and hopefully pray about) what their offering would be.

Do you remember how the Israelites got those items that were specifically needed in the building and furnishing of the tabernacle? We have to go back to Exodus 12:35-36 to find out...

³⁵ Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. ³⁶ And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. ~Exodus 12:35-36

God had given the people favor in sight of the Egyptians before they left Egypt! He had given them specific instructions on what to ask for! With God's favor resting on the Israelites, the Egyptians granted them everything they requested!! Wow!

We see in verse 22 of Exodus 35 that both men and women came back to Moses with the offering they separated specifically for God from what they had been blessed with when departing from Egypt.

They gave with willing hearts.

Gifts from goat's hair to gold - no offering was too small. And all gifts were needed. It didn't matter whether the offering was as small as the goat's hair or as expensive as the gold.

What mattered was the willing hearts that gave.

It's important that whatever offering we present to God - whether it be with our own tithes and offerings, our time and talents, or how we serve our families...it all must be done with willing hearts to be considered an act of worship to God. It's not worship if we are grumbling under our breath where no one can hear us (oh, but God can!) or complaining out loud taking all the joy out of whatever it is we are giving.

Let's be cheerful givers (2 Corinthians 9:7). It all starts in our hearts.


It's hard to believe we have only ONE WEEK left in the book of Exodus! Please join me next week as we finish reading and studying in Exodus 36-40.

Here are my SOAKs for Thursday and Friday:

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Exodus 34

Scripture: Exodus 34:5-9

⁵ Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, ⁷ keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” ⁸ So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. ⁹ Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

Observations: Moses, hidden in the cleft of the rock (Exodus 33:21-23), sees the glory of God as God reveals His character to him in these verses. 

God is merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abounding in goodness and truth, and forgiving to those who would receive His love and forgiveness.

Moses bows his head and worships in response to this revelation of God and then he intercedes on behalf of himself and of the Israelites and prays for God to be present with them.

Application: What is my response to the revelations of God in my life? Do I take the time to intercede to God on the behalf of those I love and for the lost of this world? Do I pray for the presence of God in my life with sincerity and hunger like Moses did?

I love this quote from David Guzik: “When we come to know who God is and all His great love for us, the most practical thing it makes us do is worship Him more than ever.” Amen!

Kneel: Heavenly Father, I worship you today for Who You are in my life! You’ve shown me so much of Your glory through the life You have given me. Through all the highs and lows of my life, I have seen Your loving hand working all things together for my good. Thank You for helping me to see how important it is to praise You in the storms of this life, knowing that You are shaping my character with Your character through those times. Thank You also for the beautiful mountaintop experiences of my life where I have been given the opportunity to shout Your praises. Help me to never lose sight of the opportunities to know more of Who You are as I travel down the roads of this life. It’s in the powerful name of Jesus I pray. Amen!

Friday, February 20, 2015

Exodus 35

Scripture: Exodus 35:5

⁵ ‘Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁶ blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ⁷ ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; ⁸ oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; ⁹ onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.

Observations: Everything that was needed for the building and furnishing of the tabernacle would be taken up in an offering to the Lord. Whoever had willing hearts to give from what God had blessed them with when they left Egypt (Exodus 12:35-36) would give in this offering.

Application: All that we have is a blessing from God’s hand of provision. Our hearts should willingly give back to Him in our tithes and offerings and with our time and talents. Giving is an act of worship to God. We should be cheerful givers because God loves it when we give with willing hearts (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Kneel: Heavenly Father, I want to say thank You for all of Your blessings. You have been so faithful to provide everything that we need in this life. Help us to give back to You with willing hearts so that the work of Your kingdom can continue to reach out to the lost of this world who need to hear the Good News of redemption through Jesus Christ. May the willingness of our hearts to give cheerfully flow over into every area of our lives so that we can love others well. In the life-giving name of Jesus I pray. Amen!

I'll see you back here on Monday for another Blogging Through the Bible post! Have a great weekend, friends!

Walking in His Grace, 
Laurie


I'm linking up with Courtney Joseph over at Women Living Well, home of Good Morning girls for Blogging Through the Bible! Click on the image below to read Courtney's post today and posts from others who are BTTB too!