The Penn's Grove record., 1916-06-09
ONES GIFTS TO GOD
Only Those Which Are Most Pre-
Cious Are Acceptable to Our
Heavenly Father.

One of the qualities which makes an
Offering acceptable to God is that it
shall cost the worshiper something.
Offerings + not acceptable merely
because they are expensive; they
must meet other conditions as well,
but he who contemplates rendering
any worship or service to God may
well count the cost.
Before the temple was erected on
Mount Moriah that mountain was the
probable scene of two sacrifices made
to God. On that summit Abraham is
supposed to have built the altar on
which Isaac was about to be offered
when God interposed and accepted a
substitute. The father of the faith
full as good as offered God that which
was most precious to him, and was
accepted as if hat offering had been
made. Long after, David had occasion
to offer a burnt offering upon that
same mountain, and he uttered this
resolution, 81 will not offer unto the
Lord that which costs me nothing"
Two persons were publicly COM
mended by the Lord for their gifts,
and both of them were women. One
had cast into the treasury of the
temple a very small sum-, two mites,
which make a farthing. The other
had given a box of ointment which
was very precious Both of them seem
to have given all they possessed.
The offerings were appreciated be-
cause of their expensiveness, but
their expensiveness was not to be es-
timated only by their intrinsic value.
Lack Proper Spirit in Giving.
The tendency of the present day
seems to be to offer to God that
which is costly. Members of the
church, in determining the amount
of money they shall devote to relig-
ious purposes, generally fix Upon a
sun that will not deprive them Of a
single thing they care to have. They
contribute what they can give with
out feeling it. They expect God to
be satisfied, and even gratified with
an offering which costs them nothing.
That tendency is not confined to
financial offerings. Some have been
known to excuse themselves for fire.
quent absence from the morning
church service by the fact that they
have occasion to be up late the night
before, and it is hard to rise early IN
the Sabbath morning when that Is
the only morning of the week they
can sleep late. Some of them add as
an additional reason that it is not
easy to sit through a long service
when the sermon is not very interest
ing. They are absent from the eve
ming service and from the midweek
prayer service because in the press Of
business and social engagements they
want an evening to spend with their
families or for quiet reading. Their
excuses can be boiled down into one
simple statement: Because it would
cost them something, they will not
give these things to God. They for
get hat the thing which costs moth
ing is not worth giving.
The reason why more of the mem
bers of the church are not willing to
be active in the Sabbath school is that
it would cost them something in time
and effort and personal ease. The
reason why more are not willing to
seek out those who are careless and
try to win them back to the church
and a place in its service is because
it costs toe much. The fact must be
faced that the thing given to God at
small cost to the w%orshiper is held
cheaply by him who receives such
worship. The gift which he appreci-
ates is the gift which means a real
sacrifice and expense to the giver.-
The United Presbyterian.