Keepers of the Treasure
Verse: 1 Chronicles 26:20 (additional reading ‒look up verses 21-28, too!)
Their fellow Levites were in charge of the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries for the dedicated things.
Devotional:
There is a widely known cynicism toward the church today. I don’t know if you’re aware, but many Christians leave the church and never return, even though they remain believers. Why such cynicism? It’s because many ministries have drifted from solid, scriptural guidance on the business aspects of the church!
One such aspect (and the reason some leave) is how ministries handle finances.
It seems headlines daily are full of some ministry’s or minister’s failure with finances.
·Some are long on their own pocketbook before attending to making an impact on the lives of those they serve.
·Some use modern (worldly) marketing techniques to manipulate (rather than encourage) people to give.
Quite frankly, the secular world, the media, law enforcement, and even the US Congress (!) have had enough and are targeting such irresponsible behavior.
The leaders of the house of God are to be responsible stewards of the resources of the ministry. But no one person is to be in full charge of it. Good fiscal policies and accountability procedures must be in place and the get-rich-quick schemes and personal ‘inurement’ (as the IRS phrases it) must be avoided at all costs.
And don’t you be a complicit participant is such practices, either! You, as a steward of God’s resources, must be on the lookout for these types of practices in which you give. Remember, you are managers of (the Bible calls it ‘stewards of’) God’s money. It’s not yours. He wants you to be a faithful steward of that which He’s entrusted you. Avoid giving to any nonprofit or cause based solely on some charismatic spokes-person’s dynamic or engaging personality (a “cult of personality”) as apposed to being based on Christ. Look at the ministry itself!
Challenge:
Have you checked out the ministries and causes you support? Do they have a message of “give to me and you can live like me”? If so, how will you reprioritize you giving when it concerns this entity? Write your answer here at http://www.generouslife.net/day55.
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