I Will Turn this Car Around Right Now

And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. These also King David dedicated to the LORD, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued . . . 2 Samuel 8:10-11

When I was a kid, my family set off one summer on a massive road trip across the country. As kids, we were excited to go, but we didn’t get more than 10 miles out of town when we began fighting in the back seat. My father wasn’t having it. He warned us once that he wasn’t going to listen to this conflict all the way across the country. When we ignored his warning and continued fighting, he pulled off at the next exit and threatened to go home, canceling the entire trip. That shut us up. My father went on to inform us that if we were going to take a trip across the country, that there was a certain standard of behavior expected of us. If he was going to take us on vacation, we had a responsibility to behave a certain way and screaming at each other in the back seat was not the appropriate way. I remember recognizing that as my father was giving to me, my appropriate response was to give back, in this case, by not fighting with my annoying siblings.

The same is true with God – As he has given us much, our appropriate response is to give something back to him. This principle is illustrated in today’s passage, in which King David was blessed by God, enjoying tremendous political success. As he conquered and expanded his kingdom, and as surrounding nations bowed to him, Israel acquired tremendous wealth. David recognized that it was God who brought him to this point and so, when he received gold and silver, he dedicated that wealth to God. As God blessed David, David responded appropriately by giving back.

This isn’t natural for most of us though. When we get a paycheck, we generally budget how we can spend our money – on ourselves. Most of us don’t naturally give away our income, our energy, or our time. As God has loved and blessed us though, it’s our appropriate response to give something back. This may mean money in the offering plate, a donation to a charitable organization, or even volunteering with some ministry which serves the community around us. To keep for ourselves everything God has given us, is to fail to recognize where our blessings came from. If we truly appreciate all that God has done for us, then it’s our appropriate response to joyfully give back to him. Otherwise, we’re just ungrateful, self-absorbed children, riding in the back seat.