Giving with Gratitude

During a mission trip to Ecuador, I visited a Quichua Indian church located high in the windswept Andes Mountains.

The pastor and his wife were proudly showing our volunteer team their church building when we saw a huge pile of yellow corn spilling out of sacks in the corner of one room.

I asked if there was any special significance to the mound of corn. They explained that in their agricultural community the believers always brought a tenth of whatever crop they harvested to the church as an offering to the Lord.

The congregation used this food to share with those in their village who did not have enough to eat or to provide a meal on special days for their entire community as a testimony to God’s love and provision in their lives.

I was amazed and moved by this level of generosity, gratitude and obedience.

What could happen in our own churches if we each chose to give back to the Lord literally a tenth of all we have? What needs could we meet with these resources?

Prayer: Dear God, teach us to recognise that all we have comes from you. Help us give back to you and to others from hearts overflowing with gratitude. Amen