"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Matt. 13:44).
Why We Give
At Mercy Hill, we speak of committing ourselves to God and his church with our time, talent, and treasure. When we receive from his abounding grace as our Savior, when we come under him as the Lord of our lives, it becomes our great privilege and pleasure to simply give back to him all that was his in the first place.
Regarding our treasure in particular, we remember that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Ps. 50:10). There is nothing that we can give back to him that he has not already freely given to us (Rom. 11:35). It is utterly impossible to out-give God. All of our possessions are gifts from him and provide opportunity for us to give them back to him in love. We do this by counting our treasure as nothing compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ (Phil. 3:8); by giving generously and cheerfully to support the church’s worship and work (2 Cor. 9:7); and by giving freely to the unbelieving in hopes that they too will see that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions (Luke 12:15).
