I believe the word ‘Offering’ is something that we know and are familiar with. It is a subject in the Bible that is all over the pages of the Scriptures, from the Old Testament even to the New Testament. So, we want to examine what in offering attracts God and we want to look at why God accepts certain offerings and God rejects other offerings? Many times, in the Bible we have read how God accepted certain offerings and then rejected others. Also, we have seen and read how God accept certain men and reject others and that is why this subject is of a great importance in the heart of God because offering is beyond what we give to God. Offering is beyond the monies we drop in the offering baskets or beyond whatever it is we can imagine we can give to God.

 

As a matter of fact, our lives are meant to be an offering unto God. In Romans 12:1, the apostle Paul wrote: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” So, that tells us that much more than what we give to God that we call offerings or quantify as things, our lives should be an offering to God. So, God is looking much more beyond the things we offer, God is looking at us, the entirety, the totality of ourselves, our being. So, what will make God to be attracted to your offerings or to your life? Much more than the things we give to God as offerings, the whole of a man’s life should be an offering unto God. When a man’s life is acceptable unto God, the things that such man would offer as offerings would then be acceptable to God.

 

Let us start our observation from the book of Exodus 25:1-9, looking at the subject matter of offering. The Bible says:

 

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. ³ And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁴ blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ⁵ ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; ⁶ oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; ⁷ onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. ⁸ And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. ⁹ According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.”

 

The above text would lead us into examining two categories of offerings that are recorded in the Bible. Now, there are quite a number of offerings that God required from the children of Israel in the Old Testament, especially if you read your Bible from Exodus to somewhere in Deuteronomy. But we are not going to be going into all that because it is not the focus of this teaching. But every kind of offering that we see or read about in the word of God are subsumed under these two categories.

 

The first category is known as FREEWILL OFFERING. A freewill offering is that offering that is voluntarily offered or given to the Lord out of one’s volition. It may not be a demanded offering from you by the Lord (as the case we read above), but was freely given to God out of one’s personal conviction or volition. When it comes to freewill offerings, it is important that we take note of the phrase: PERSONAL CONVICTION OR VOLITION. See what the Bible says in Exodus 35:20-29. It says:

 

“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.”

 

So, from the above passages, we saw that the people gave freely as they were moved and stirred in their hearts. So, you offer a freewill offering from your personal convictions and volitions.

 

Also, In LEVITICUS 23:37-38, the Bible also revealed that a freewill offering is apart every other offering that was instituted by God for the children of Israel. The Bible says: “‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— ³⁸ besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.” For example, if you pay your tithes, it is apart from the freewill offering. If you made a pledge towards the building of the house of God, it does not still stop your freewill offering.

 

The second category of offering is known as COMMANDED/DEMANDED OFFERING. In Matthew 8:4 (AMP), the Bible says: “And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest [for inspection] and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony (evidence) to them [of your healing].”

 

So, from these two categories, we have been able to establish that an offering can be made out of freewill and an offering can be commanded. But whether it’s a freewill offering or a commanded offering, what are the things that attracts God in any type of offering?

 

WHAT IN ‘OFFERING’ ATTRACTS GOD?

 

#1. His Covenant Relationship with Man

 

Many believers don’t understand that God’s covenant with mankind endears His heart to our offerings. Whether God would accept any offering from you or not would be dependent on His covenant relationship that He has with you. In most cases, this relationship fuels the kind of offering we give to God per time. In Genesis 8:20-22, the Bible says: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. ²² “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”

 

#2. Faith in Giving the Offering

 

There are certain offerings that we give that are not borne out of faith. Many times, what attracts God in the kind of offerings that we give unto Him is the faith that is behind it.

 

“And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. ⁶ So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

 

The first thing you would notice here is that it was not God who ask Abel and Cain to bring an offering to Him. I believe their parents must have told them about God and so, they knew there is a God in heaven who made all things. WHY DID GOD ACCEPT THE OFFERING OF ABEL AND DIDN’T ACCEPT THAT OF CAIN? Hebrews 11:4 gave us the answer. It says: “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” So, when you have faith in the things that you offer to God, that faith attracts God to that offering and therefore, He responds to it.

 

#3. Willingness To Let It Go or In Giving It

 

Anytime we are offering to God, it must come from the depth of our heart. Never at any point give to God out of unwillingness or out of compulsion. The moment you give to God grudgingly, it has already truncated the purpose of that giving and therefore, it becomes unattractive unto God. In 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, Paul said:

 

“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ 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.”

 

May the Lord accept us and our offerings in Jesus’ name!

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

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