Offer What You Have

I want to give everything to Jesus. I want my time, my talents, my words, my money, my house, my skills, and my ambitions to be dedicated to his service. And I have a few grandiose dreams of what that might look like someday. The most outlandish: to earn enough income from writing that I can purchase a home for a family of refugees. I want to hold onto dreams like this, because they help keep me focused on the monotonous tasks required to reach them—in this case, the everyday worship of clicking away at my computer.

But while I want to look towards the future, I also want to serve Him today. I want to be faithful in the things God puts right in front of me, regardless of how small or significant they seem.

One day long ago, as Jesus spoke to a crowd of thousands, they grew hungry and He instructed His disciples to feed them. The only food they found belonged to a young boy—five barley loaves and two fish. I’m sure the boy didn’t wake up that day and think, “I am going to do something amazing today, and it will be a story told for generations.” He simply offered Jesus what he had. And Jesus multiplied it in a mind-boggling and miraculous way. The boy isn’t the star of the story, Jesus is. The boy was simply faithful to give Jesus the little he had.

That’s how we should live—just giving Jesus whatever we have, no matter what it is. It all belongs to Him anyway. And when He multiplies our ordinary gifts, nobody will marvel at us, they will marvel at the magnitude of what He has done.

So we speak and write, and pray that God uses our words for His glory. The rest is up to Him.

We work and give, and pray that our money serves God’s kingdom. The rest is up to Him.

We build relationships and share the gospel, and pray it falls on fertile hearts. The rest is up to Him.

We serve our churches in unseen and unremarkable ways, and pray it blesses its members. The rest is up to Him.

We love and teach our children, and pray they follow Jesus. The rest is up to Him.

We care for the orphan, the poor, the widow, and the sojourner, occupied with individuals instead of overwhelmed by many, and pray for their wellbeing. The rest is up to Him.

Giving “our all” means just that. All that we do—cooking and cleaning, working and waiting, seeking and serving—is done as worship unto God. And we can give our small offerings with great faith, because our God works miracles and wonders.