Willing heart

DEVOTION

EXODUS

WILLING HEART

Ex 25:1-9

25:1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give. 3 These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 5 ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows; acacia wood; 6 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 8 "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

NIV

We are about to build the tabernacle that was to be the center of the encampment of the Israelites. This tabernacle will be portable and transported by those from the tribe of Levi. We are going to see God give Moses very exact directions as to how it should be built and what the furnishings or furniture inside was to be made of and what it was to be like.  The gathering of the materials was to come from the people. But God was not instructing them to give, or demanding them to give, as he did and will regarding their sacrifices for sin. This is rather unique. God tells Moses to have the people bring an offering of these materials, but from each man whose heart prompts him to give. The materials are exact, but not the command to give them. Each man should be prompted by his own heart to give what he can give to the building of this temple of God. They are going to give so that God will dwell among them. They are going to have a place for God among them. Isn’t that our story? God wants to dwell among his people, but he wants them to offer the materials to build this place from a prompted heart. God wants to dwell among us, actually within us, who have been called and are the temple of God. But he will not dwell within this temple unless we offered it from a prompted or willing heart. He does not demand them to give, nor does he demand us to give, but desires us to offer ourselves willingly, as prompted by the Spirit. This is a daily offering we need to make. Although it is true that once we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we are saved. But, as with Calvin and his idea of once saved always saved, we cannot agree. It is possible that we retake this sanctuary kicking God out once and for all. That would certainly disrupt our eternal life status. It is not that we have to get saved every day, for once we accept Jesus and continue having this willing heart, and we will inherit eternal life. But we do need to continue having this prompted, this willing heart toward God. When we want to share our heart, or simple allow him only a portion of ourselves or our heart and use the other portion for our own desires, our own personal gain of fame and fortune, so to speak, we might well be in some sort of trouble, or jeopardy. We have to go to this idea of a covenant and being in partnership. God has told us what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever.

2 Cor 6:14-16

14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."  

NIV

How can we be both the temple of God and one of idols? How can we share the desires of those who live in the darkness when we are supposed to be not only living in the light, but being the light of the world? How can we experience the righteousness of Christ in our lives and share in wickedness, or as the original word means, violation of the law? Although we do not live under the law, Jesus gave us a new more complete law of love. So how can we love the Lord our God with all our heart if we are not also loving our neighbor as ourselves? That would be a divided heart if we say we love God but also love the things of this world. So as the Spirit prompted us to accept Jesus which we did, he also prompts us each and every day to live a life pleasing and acceptable to God. This is called living, worshipping God in spirit and in truth. He prompts us each day to live for God and we need to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice willingly each day. This is our reasonable act of worship. He does not demand it, but he prompts us to give it. Let us always be open to his prompting. Let us always have a willing heart.