I attended The Shore in Sarasota, which has been our unofficial home church while we are in the launch process and listened to my friend T.J. Hankey deliver another inspiring message.  He was talking about godly money management and one point that he made just jumped out at me and has stuck with me… “Give Extravagantly”. 

He related the story of Solomon’s initial days as King of Israel and his worship at Gibeon.  Solomon offered 1,000 burnt offerings on the bronze altar there.  It was after this sacrificial worship that God asked Solomon what he wanted?  Of course we know that Solomon asked for wisdom.

What is interesting in this story is that not only did Solomon receive wisdom, but he was also given riches, fame and long life.  Great wisdom was enough… Unbelievable wealth would have been enough… Great fame would have been enough… Long life would have been enough… Instead he got them all!  Why? The answer lies in the principle of extravagant giving.  Solomon gave an extravagant sacrifice so God returned with extravagant blessings. 

Some of you may be thinking that I’m proposing a prosperity gospel… you know sow seed and watch God multiply it 100 times, let me be clear… I’m NOT!  God does not always repay in kind, He is not a cosmic bookie who always offers high stakes payouts.  God is not impressed by our money, but rather by our hearts.  The condition of the heart is why the story of the widow’s mite was included in scripture and why Solomon’s sacrifice received such great attention.  God is impressed when His children take what they have and place it in His hands, trusting that their Heavenly Father will then do what is best for them.

The reality is that when we give extravagantly for God, it catches His attention, because our hearts are involved.  When we give something that doesn’t cost us anything, it isn’t painful, and it doesn’t relate to the gift of Jesus’ work on the Cross.  God gave us everything through the sacrifice of His only Son.  Doesn’t it stand to reason that our gifts, to be deemed sacrificial, must cost us.  It is not normal for humans to make sacrifices… in fact most people  tend to shy away from sacrifice and in the rare occasions that people do sacrifice we usually call them heroes, when we’re made aware of the story.

The heart behind a sacrifice is one focused on someone or something other than self.  When you couple that heart with extravagance… you get something extraordinary.  Rather than just an act of obedience, you get the makings of a miracle. 

So the question is this… Do you trust God enough to be extravagant in your generosity?  Do you believe that God is waiting to bless you, to give you more than you deserve, simply because He can?  The answer is… He is!  He wants to extravagantly bless those whose hearts are set on giving extravagantly.  What can you give to God that will cost you something?  You might unlock a miracle that you never imagined was coming!

~Brian