Week 19: What do I have to offer?
Weekly Reading:
I Chronicles 19 - II Chronicles 10
Opening Prayer
Father God,
What do I have to offer You that is of any worth? I can provide my money and my time, but the one thing you’re after is my heart. I can work and skimp and save to have more, more fame, more things, but none of this is what You want from me. What you want is my heart. Give me guidance and courage to be the woman You have called me to be.
Amen
Study
I love hearing David‘s private conversations with God and even more so his public discussions in which he leads his people by example. While we see that David is a human and flawed man on occasion, he firmly stands in God following God’s desire for most of his life. As David begins the process to turn over the reign of Israel to his son Solomon, we see David speaking to God, praising the Lord and the presence of the entire assembly.
10 Then David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly: “O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever! 11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. 12 Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength. 13 “O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! 14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! 15 We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.
16 “O Lord our God, even this material we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your holy name comes from you! It all belongs to you! 17 I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. You know I have done all this with good motives, and I have watched your people offer their gifts willingly and joyously. 18 “O Lord, the God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make your people always want to obey you. See to it that their love for you never changes. 19 Give my son Solomon the wholehearted desire to obey all your commands, laws, and decrees, and to do everything necessary to build this Temple, for which I have made these preparations.”
1 Chronicles 29:10-19 NLT
David stands in front of his entire assembly. He first recognizes who God is powerful and at the same time the source of David’s power, the God of our ancestor Israel. David next praises the Lord and recognizes that all victory is due to God, who deserves all glory and majesty. He continues to illustrate everything they, the Israelites, have because of God and his power, nothing through their strength. God chooses who He desires and uses them for his glory. David goes on to thank God and praise him for all he has done. David says that as we are humans, and as such, we have nothing to offer that would ever be worthy of everything that we have received. He recognizes that we are only here for a moment, visitors, strangers in the land.
It all comes from You, God; it all belongs to You (1 Chronicles 29:16).
In 1 Chronicles 29:17, David says that God will examine our hearts, and when God finds integrity there, God will rejoice.
If our heart is pure, loving, and respectful if our heart is willing to share God‘s grace and mercy, if our heart is focused on God, then our heart will hold the treasures God desires for us.
But if we squander this limited time that comes from God as a gift, and if we do not share the love that God provides for us in the small amount of time we have on this earth, then who are we living for? Is our life creating meaning if it is not focused on God and sharing his message of grace and healing?
God guides us throughout the Bible regarding our hearts.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5 NLT
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
Proverbs 4:23 NLT
“And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart,”
Ezekiel 11:19 NLT
“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’”
Matthew 22:37 NLT
We will be judged by our hearts, not by our works; God sees through what man cannot. In turn, our works should dictate the content of our hearts.
“The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
I Samuel 16:7 (b) NLT
David’s heart was pure. David loved God with all his heart and soul. He demonstrated his love for God and danced like nobody was watching for his God (2 Samuel 6:14-26, 21-22).
What does your heart illustrate today?
Closing Prayer
Father God,
I know that sometimes my heart reveals warmth and love, other times it reveals anger and hurt. Father, You demonstrate love, always love. I want a new heart, remove the parts that are stony and stubborn to reveal a tender and responsive heart.
Amen
Homework
Pray and share your fears and your hopes with God.
Ask God to soften your heart to what he wants to reveal to you.
