Wise and Willing

Wise-hearted, willing-hearted. (Exodus 35:5)

Exodus 35:4-10 KN; 1 Chr. 29:9; 2 Cor. 8:1-12; 2 Cor. 9:6-11

What Is God Saying?

This passage concerns the people who offered their skills and materials to equip and adorn the Tabernacle. This journey called for incredible sacrifice, and only those willing and wise were called upon to give up their possessions and talents. God wants to touch willing and wise hearts to accomplish his work.

It is consistently true in Scripture that giving must be of one's free will. God owns it all, and he may well require it all, as in Luke 2:16-21. But when God wants a job done, we find the standard for giving in the passage before us, backed up by such New Testament lessons as 2 Corinthians 8:12 and 9:7. Wise hearts are willing when it comes to the work God requires.

How Does This Apply To Us?

God allows us to be stewards of his grace. We can choose to hoard what he gives and find ourselves starving amid abundance. Or we can choose to share what he offers, believing that there is more where that came from.

Our lives remain full, free, and constantly renewed, like a river supplied by a spring. Do we have a willing heart for sacrifice and a wise heart for service? Let that become the essence of our prayer. God always blesses the wise and the willing with spiritual wealth beyond all they could ask or think.

Pray With Me

Dear Lord, you command obedience and submission from every part of your creation. Yet you are pleased to give us the freedom to choose. You do not give this freedom to the elements, the mountains, the seas, the shining light, or the wheeling stars, or to animals whose existence depends on instinct and the will to survive. You give us alone the power to weigh the facts, consider the consequences, and make decisions. Then, I choose to have a wise and willing heart. I want to be among the wise-hearted who serve the Lord. I want to be among the willing-hearted who offer substance to the Lord.

Your Word assures us, “If there is first a willing heart, it is acceptable according to what a man has, not according to what he has not.” May I trust and act upon this promise. Give me, dear Lord, the wise heart of service and the willing heart of sacrifice. May I be wise in knowing where service is needed and willing to see what sacrifice is required.

In the name of the wisest and most willing Friend, my Lord and Sav10r, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Moving On In The Life Of Prayer

Let every prayer begin with our choice to give God a willing heart. Let us offer the desires of our hearts that lie so deep they find no expression in words. God receives and rewards the petitions of willing hearts.