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THE LADDER OF GIVING

A few years ago, I made a breakthrough discovery. I saw something in the Word about giving that I had never seen before. I saw that for the Christian, there are actually three levels of giving to the Lord:

1. Tithes
2. Offerings
3. Extravagant Offerings

Soon after discovering this hierarchy of giving, I excitedly called a friend of mine—a person with a strong gift of giving—to share it with him. I said, “The Lord has shown me something I’ve never seen before. Did you know that there are three levels of giving?” Very matter-of-factly, he said, “Yes, I did, and I can even tell you what they are.” I remember thinking, Wrong, Mr. Smarty Pants. I just got this fresh from heaven. I’ve never heard it preached or taught at any time. There is no way you know what I’m about to say.

So I called his bluff. “All right, then, what are they?” He said, “Tithes, offerings, and painful offerings.” He had phrased it a little less delicately than I had, but that was it! He knew! Sadly, most believers don’t know about these three levels of giving because, as I’ve already mentioned, they rarely even get to the first level. Consequently, they never even get a glimpse of the joy, fun, and blessing available at the higher levels. However, over the years, I have observed that those who do get to the first level usually move on to the next one. Why? Because tithing removes the curse and opens the windows of heaven over us. So, when we start tithing, we’re much more likely to start giving offerings as the Lord leads us.

Nevertheless, very few Christians will ever reach the third level of giving to the Lord—the level of extravagant giving—and this is a tragedy. Some of the most remarkable people in the Bible were extravagant givers. Take King David, who gave an extravagant offering to the Lord so his son Solomon could build the Temple. Converted to today’s currency, his offering would amount to $21 billion. If that’s not extravagant, I don’t know what is.

In 1 Kings 3, there’s another example of an extravagant gift. Solomon became known around the world for being extremely wise. Do you remember how Solomon received that wisdom? He had just been set in as king, and the tradition was to sacrifice a bull, but do you know what Solomon did instead? He sacrificed 1,000 bulls! Because of this, God came to him and said, “Ask anything of Me, and I’ll give it to you.” He did this because Solomon demonstrated that he had a generous, unselfish heart. He was a giver.

I can assure you that a person who is not a giver at the highest level is not likely to have God come to him and say, “Ask anything.” He can’t, because He hasn’t had the opportunity to do a work in his heart. He could not trust him with the blank check He handed to Solomon.

Here’s another extravagant gift in the Bible. This one rivals that of David and Solomon combined. We find it in Luke 21:2, which says, “And He [Jesus] saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.” That’s right. A poor widow with her offering of two mites made the extravagant gift list because, according to Jesus, it was all she had. It took as much, or more, faith for her to give two mites as it did for David to give $21 billion in gold! It’s not the amount; it’s the heart. Two pennies constitute an extravagant gift when they are all you have.

In Genesis 22, we read about another extravagant gift on a remote hilltop in what would one day become Jerusalem, a man named Abraham prepared to offer up his only, miraculous son. I’d call that extravagant. I’ll give you one even better than that: Not too far away from that hilltop, 2,000 years later, God Himself offered His only, blameless Son as a sacrifice for our freedom and lives. I’d call that an extravagant gift. I’ll use my friend’s word and call that a painful gift.

God has made it abundantly clear all through the Bible that He is the ultimate extravagant giver. He is generous, and He wants to do a work in our hearts that makes us more like Him.

PRAYER
God, thank You for extravagantly giving us Your greatest gift: Jesus. Give me the faith and the heart to give just like David, Solomon, and the widow who gave all she had. Remove any attitude that keeps me from being an extravagant giver. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

MEMORY VERSE
"You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it." MATTHEW 21:22 (NLT)