Ex 36:2-7 Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work. 3 And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. 4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, 5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, "The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do." So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, "Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary." And the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done — indeed too much. NKJV

This account records the children of Israel giving for the building of the tabernacle. No doubt, much of the material came from the plunder of the Egyptians that had happened when Israel left Egypt (Exodus 12:35-26). But the key to their giving, and to the workmen doing the work, was found in the idea that their heart was stirred to give. We find that the people gave freewill offerings every morning for the work, and it finally ends with the workmen telling Moses to tell the people to bring no more.

Lately, there have been numerous commercials on television encouraging people to give. No one specific charity or place has been suggested, as much as the idea of giving. We just need to give!

Why do people give? People know in their hearts that this is the right thing to do, and they want to see the money they give being used for something good. It is always easier to find people who will give money for physical, material things that they can see their money spent on. For example, let a church talk about a new building, and the members will, by and large, sacrifice to see the building built. We are willing to give when someone near to us – a relative or a neighbor – is in need of help, and we can see that good that we have done. What is often harder is to get money for things like evangelism, where money may be poured into it, with no visible results for some time.

When people consider how blessed they are, they will give. This goes back to the matter of the heart as well. One of the motives for our giving is our gratefulness to God for all of the material goods He has granted to us, and the realization that we have what we have because of His abundant grace. If we were to sit and think about how blessed we are in this country, and what we have that the rest of the world wants; if we consider the multiplied millions that have sacrificed all they can to come to the United States – we are truly blessed. We give because we are thankful. We are grateful to God for His material bounty – but, more importantly, we give back to God because of His abundant, matchless grace in our salvation. It is not hard to give to God when we consider what He has given for us.

We need to give to the Lord because it is commanded. When the children of Israel gave for the tabernacle, it was because God commanded it, but it was also because of their freewill. They had seen God work in the plagues, and in His deliverance of them through the Red Sea. They had seen how close they were to being destroyed after the incident with the golden calf, and how God relented because of Moses pleading.

We have been commanded to give. Are our offerings of a free will? Is it because we consider our blessings, and we know that this is the right thing to do? Why do you give?