Give Your Gifts to the Lord
Here’s a question for you, Christian creative: have you ever given your gifts back to the Lord as an offering?
No, and I’m not really sure what that means? Does He want my sketchbook or digital files? Do I need to hold my computer up to the sky? Burn my canvases with fire? Bury my masterpiece(s)?!
As always, if God has called you to do something — and you’ve checked the spirits — do it. However, that’s typically not what we mean by “offering your gifts to the Lord”. It’s not a physical act of sacrifice, but a surrender. It is saying “God, I have created this thing using the gifts that you have given me, thank you so much for enabling me to create. Please use it for Your Will” or, even more broadly, “God, you have given me such a wonderful gift, allow me to use it for Your glory, Your purpose, and Your Kingdom”
Now, you might be asking why should we do that? Isn’t He sovereign over our gifts, anyway? Why do we need to offer them BACK to Him?
Think about a little boy or girl who’s been given a box of crayons from their parent. The parent has ultimate sovereignty over the box of crayons — they paid for it, it’s in their house, and they can take it away if it is causing a disruption — but the crayons right now are the child’s to do with what they please. What is one of the first things a little kid does after drawing something with that box of crayons? They go show and/or give it to their parents! And how do the parents react? They praise the effort and maybe put it on the fridge for a week or two as a prized possession (or, at least, the parents act like it’s a prized possession until it can be quietly thrown into the trash).
Well, offering up your gift to God is kind of like that…except He’s not going to lie about how good you’re doing and wait to sneakily toss your gift or your project in the trash. He loves our sacrifices and offerings, especially when they are given to Him freely! We don’t have to offer up our gifts and projects, but to do so is a huge boon to our faith journey. It is an act of trust, an act of turning our eyes towards the Lord and His will.
Putting it into Action
Have you ever given your gift to somebody? Have you ever put your talents and abilities towards someone else; maybe a birthday present for someone or some volunteer work for a charity? Using this kind of mindset — the idea of using your gift for someone else — dedicate a project or a workday to the Lord. Contemplate while you work how you can make something that honors God or will be useful in His Kingdom.
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.””
