Generosity and Joy

Welcome to today's Our Daily Bread. I'm Sheridan Voisey and I've titled our reading today, Generosity and Joy. Researchers tell us there's a link between generosity and joy. Those who give their money and time to others are happier than those who don't. This has led one psychologist to conclude, let's stop thinking of giving as a moral obligation and start thinking of it as a source of pleasure. While giving can make us happy, I question whether happiness should be the goal of our giving. If we're only generous to people or causes that make us feel good, what about the more difficult or mundane needs requiring our support? Scripture links generosity with joy too, but on a different basis.

After giving his own wealth toward building the temple in 1 Chronicles chapter 29, King David invited the Israelites to also donate. The people responded generously, giving gold, silver and precious stones joyously, but notice what their joy was over. The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. Scripture never tells us to give because it will make us happy, but to give willingly and wholeheartedly to meet a need.

Joy often follows. As missionaries know, it can be easier to raise funds for evangelism than for administration because believers in Jesus like the feeling of funding frontline work. Let's be generous toward other needs as well. After all, Jesus freely gave himself to meet our needs. Today's scripture reading is from 1 Chronicles chapter 29 verses 1 to 9.

Then King David said to the whole assembly, My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God.

Gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble, all of these in large quantities. Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple. Three thousand talents of gold, gold of offer, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen.

Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today? Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king's work gave willingly. They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand daraks of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. Anyone who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord.

David the king also rejoiced greatly. Let's pray together. Lord, we know that all true joy in life is sourced in you, and we know that the joy that we get from giving is only because you are generous and you love to give to us. Would you give us hearts that long to be generous today, to those people who are around us, and even towards those needs that just feel difficult or just plain ordinary? Lord, would you teach us about your kind of generosity? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread ministries.