Honoring the King2 min read

Centuries ago, honoring someone with a gift meant bringing the most valuable item you possessed. The Bible gives many examples of this practice. The wisemen brought exotic and expensive gifts to honor an unknown King at the end of their long, star-led journey. Mary brought expensive and rare ointment to anoint Jesus’ feet. The widow put her last coins in the temple offering box. Can you think of other biblical illustrations of this type of giving?

This is the time of year when many of us are making year-end gifts to maximize our tax advantages. We consult with our financial planners, stockbrokers, attorneys, and others to position ourselves for a good visit with our accountant and tax preparer in the new year. Make no mistake, God encourages us to be good stewards in this way. The servants who invested their talents were commended and given additional talents while the servant who buried a talent was chastised and his talent was taken from him.

God created all things. That means he created money, too. We have evidence of coins from Bible times and know that, even by then, money had an influence on the value of goods and status of people. In our humanness, we are still inclined to let that drive our decisions and notions.

But let’s stop and consider what it means to honor the King. Three wiseman traveled long distances to bring gifts of great value and willingly placed them at the humble abode of a Baby King. Mary spared no expense in anointing Jesus’ feet with ointment and then used her own hair to wipe His feet days before His death. The widow gathered all that she had to offer and resolutely gave her last coins to her Provider.

As you make decisions about your year-end giving, or any giving for that matter, do you see it as honoring the King? When we see money as a means to give glory and honor to our King, it changes everything. We think more about what impact that gift will have for His Kingdom’s sake. We think more about what will happen if we don’t give. We think more about God’s blessings in the form of money and His power to transform us and our recipients when we honor the King.

Take some time to pray, search Scripture, and listen for the Spirit’s leading before you make these decisions. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

May God grant you joy in giving to honor the King.

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