Throughout man’s sordid history, people have mocked, rejected, and forsaken the Lord. They have chosen to look to gods that cannot save or help.
No man is to be respected above another person in a form of unrighteous judgment. However, does not infer nondiscrimination in every matter.
It is always right to do right, but it is more perfectly right to do right for the right reasons. In other words, serve the Lord, but do so out of a pure motive.
World leaders constantly claim that they hold the solution for how to rid the world of poverty. Yet, the Lord stated that mankind would always have a problem with poverty, at least until the millennium. Believers should be willing to help the poor but must keep in mind that they will never eliminate world poverty. According to Deuteronomy 15:11, “the poor shall never cease out of the land.” In other words, regardless of man’s efforts to give and help, there will always be a group of people who struggle financially. With this in mind, believers should not ignore the physical needs of the poor but should be most concerned with offering the poor spiritual help (Acts 3:6).
In Moses’ day, when the people of God were called upon to give to the work of God, they gave abundantly. Ultimately, the men doing God’s work came to Moses suggesting that the people refrain from giving anything more. Any person with the right heart who believes in the work of God will not have to be begged to give. He will give liberally. This type of liberality manifested itself again in the early church. The Bible describes the people of God at that time as being “of one heart and of one soul” (Acts 4:32). Amazingly, many of them sold their houses and lands and brought the money to the apostles (Acts 4:34). This liberality greatly assisted the work of God and helped the people of God.
Every person cannot give the same amount, but every person can give. According to our passage, “Every man shall give as he is able.” Because some people might use this as an excuse not to give, the Lord further states that giving should be “according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.” The New Testament repeats this same principle in 1 Corinthians 16:2. Every man is to give “as God hath prospered him.” The book of Acts gives a practical example. In Acts 11:29, the disciples sent relief to their brethren and every man did so “according to his ability.” Each believer should give to the Lord corresponding to how the Lord has prospered him.
Psalm 119 is the longest verse-count passage (psalm or chapter) in God’s word. Interestingly, that particular psalm focuses upon one of God’s greatest gifts ever provided for mankind, His precious word. The second longest verse-count passage is Numbers chapter 7. Interestingly, God’s word focuses this chapter upon mankind giving gifts back to God. The passage could have been dramatically shortened had God chosen to give fewer of the details. However, the Lord chose to specifically delineate each of the gifts received from each tribe. Why? Maybe God wanted to emphasize the importance of every gift from every individual given to Him. No gift represented a lesser degree of importance to God Almighty. God does not need anything from man (Psalm 50:7-15) yet finds great pleasure in receiving gifts from those whom He loves.
