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\u201cNo one should appear before the Lord empty-handed: Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you\u201d (Deuteronomy 16:16-17).

As I grew up, every Saturday evening my dad would line up little piles of coins on his desk. Each Sunday morning, his children would stop by his office and pick one up. Most Sunday mornings there was a quarter for the first offering (probably for the church budget) and a dime for the offering cause chosen by the deacons. When dad went to the bank, he regularly withdrew from his account a role of quarters and a role of dimes so that his children could contribute to the offering during Sunday morning worship. When we began earning an income from working on the farm, we were expected to use that to contribute to the Sunday offerings.

I have never questioned giving to the church budget or to the diaconal causes. But I do recall that my understanding changed from giving to the church to giving to the Lord (2 Corinthians 8:5). Supporting the church and various causes is an act of investing in God\u2019s kingdom on earth. God choses to used flawed humans to do this, so sometimes the money is not used as well as I would like, but once I give it, God uses it as he will.

But I do not think our text is about investing in God\u2019s kingdom. It says, \u201cno one should appear before the Lord empty-handed\u201d. Obviously, this will look differently today than it did for Israel going to the tabernacle and later the temple. And we might ask whether this principle still applies to Christians today. I think it does. Israel\u2019s gifts to the Lord were rooted in two acts of God: first, his redeeming them from Egypt and second, his provision for them through their labours.

God\u2019s people were to prepare for their religious feasts by deciding what they were going to give to the Lord. Israel\u2019s coming to the Lord with their hands full was an act of thanksgiving for all he had done for them. Now, you may ask, how can something commanded be an act of thanksgiving? Well, consider how difficult it sometimes is to teach children to say thank you. Thanksgiving does not come naturally; it must be learned.

The commands given in Deuteronomy establish the covenant between God and his people. God knew that his people needed to learn how to live in that covenant. It is easy for us to take our relationship with God for granted. Before COVID, going to worship on Sunday\u2019s was part of our covenant relationship with God (unless it was because someone made us go). We would make time to meet with God and his people. Now, we have become accustomed to doing this online. It takes much less time, less preparation, less commitment. Are we still bringing something with us?

Israel had reason to give God thanks. Do we not, in Christ, have more reason for thanksgiving? It is much easier today to take God for granted. I think our text invites us to wonder what it is that we bring to God. Are we thankful to him?

Further, Israel is to give in proportion to what God had given them. If we consider what God has given us, what ought we to bring? For some, 10% will be a real stretch. For others, 10% will not be a sacrifice at all, hardly a matter of thanksgiving.

If you are not in the habit of giving anything at all to the Lord, can I challenge you to start today? Paul tells us to decide how much we will give (2 Corinthians 9:7). And then to give it. And, as has been said recently in Wilderness Wanderings, to give with a joyful (thankful) heart.