No specific amount in regard to Holy Day offerings is mentioned, but God’s Word includes guidelines and principles that can help us to decide how much to give.
Firstly, we must keep in mind that we cannot out-give God. Secondly, those of us who have been in the Church of God for a while know about the existence of the annual Holy Days and God’s command to give an offering on those days. We have time to prepare and save for these offerings so that we do not have to make a last minute decision as to how much we may want to give on a particular Holy Day.
In a recent Editorial in Update #484 (for the week ending March 18, 2011), titled, “Offerings,” we said the following:
“We must be committed to the Work of God in supporting its effort to preach and publish the gospel of the kingdom of God in all the world as a witness. The gospel is a message of good news from the God Family, including the fact that God’s government will be established on the earth at the return of Christ. We manifest our financial commitment to God not only by tithing to the Work, but also by additional financial means. Tithing is required; but if we only carry out our duty, then we are rendered unprofitable servants…
“A much better way of telling how deep our commitment to God and His Work is, is by focusing on our offerings to God. They will show where our heart is, and where we want our treasure to be. Matthew 6:21 tells us: ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’
“We are commanded to tithe, and we are commanded to give offerings. The amount of the tithe—ten percent of our increase or earnings—is pre-determined. The amount of our free-will offerings is not. And how we determine these amounts is indicative of where our heart really is…
“Of course, when we pay God’s tithe and give Him an offering, we are not to boast about it, but we are doing it quietly, discreetly, and from the heart. God can and will, in His due time, bless us openly when we behave with a right attitude…”
God was very displeased with the attitude of the nation of Israel towards their duty to pay tithes and offerings, including on His annual Holy Days, and He expressed His anger in no uncertain terms in the book of Malachi:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation” (Malachi 3:8-9).
So, it is evident that a person can rob God by not tithing or not tithing properly, or by not giving any offering or giving an offering that does not reflect the blessings received from God (compare Deuteronomy 16:16-17). Rather than being blessed by God even more, because of our gratitude and appreciation to God in giving generous offerings, God may pronounce a curse on us for neglecting God’s blessing in our lives.
We understand that salvation is a gift from God. However, God will not grant us salvation if we show Him through our conduct of neglect, indifference and outright rebellion that we are not interested in His gift. The continued failure of obeying God even in matters of tithing and Holy Day offerings could even lead, ultimately, to the loss of salvation.
In this context, it may be a good idea to analyze the following questions prior to giving an offering:
1- What would we be willing to pay for salvation, if it was for sale?
2- What is the value of salvation to us?
3- Is refusing to give an offering worth the price of the loss of salvation ?
As stated in Deuteronomy 16:16-17, we are not to appear before God empty-handed on His Holy Days, and we are to give as we are able, according to the blessing of the LORD our God which He has given us. This blessing throughout the year is not limited to just financial blessing. It could include the blessing of good health, of a sound mind, of precious spiritual knowledge and understanding, of having a job and a happy family—things which are difficult to value with a price tag. But they all come into play when we determine the amount of our Holy Day offering.
We also read the following principle in 2 Corinthians 9:6-11:
“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: ‘HE HAS DISPERSED ABROAD, HE HAS GIVEN TO THE POOR; HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER.’ Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.”
God is telling us here that if we give “sparingly,” “grudgingly” and “out of necessity,” we cannot expect generous blessings and enrichment in everything from God, including grace and increase in the fruits of righteousness. At the same time, God does not expect of us to give what we don’t have. It is mainly a question of right attitude. That our attitude plays a big part in giving an offering, and that it is of great importance to God, can be seen in the following passage in Luke 21:1-4:
“And [Christ] looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, ‘Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.’”
In the above record, Christ blessed a widow who only gave two mites–a very small amount–but that was all she had at that time. Her attitude was such that she wanted to give, and Christ used her as an example of generous giving in the eyes of God, even though the rich gave much more, but they did it out of their abundance. Christ was not rejecting the offering of the rich, but in comparison with the widow, she gave much more.
We conclude from the foregoing that it is possible for us to rob God by not tithing faithfully and by not giving generous Holy Day offerings, in accordance with how
God has blessed us. We should plan ahead as to how much we want to give and how we can reach that goal.
We cannot put a price tag on God’s gift of eternal life, but we could lose out on eternal life by not obeying God, including in giving Holy Day offerings in accordance with His injunctions. We are commanded to appear before God with an offering; that is, not empty-handed. Blessings from God come in different forms; they include the physical realm, but they are not limited to just the physical. Our attitude in giving is very important to God.
God expects of His followers to give offerings on His annual Holy Days. They are an opportunity for us to express our gratitude for our calling and the blessings, both physical and spiritual, that God bestows upon us throughout the year.
Lead Writer: Rene Messier
