"TIME, TREASURE AND TALENT" (Things the Lord has Commanded Us To Give) (Exodus 35 : 1 – 19) By : Bro. Ruel Cabusas

1. TIME - Observe a Sabbath of rest (verses 1 – 3)

¹Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, "These are the things the LORD has commanded you to do: ² For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death. ³ Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day."

The Lord has commanded the Israelites to observe a Sabbath of rest. Sabbath means seventh day of the week and divinely set apart for rest and worship. Christians today have to observe this command also in order to have a day rest and to find time worshipping the Lord. Otherwise, we are like an ax that is always in use and is not being sharpened.

Illustration: One man challenged another to an all-day wood chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow had chopped substantially more wood than he had. "I don't get it," he said. "Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did." "But you didn't notice," said the winning woodsman, "that I was sharpening my ax when I sat down to rest." (L. S. Chafer, Grace.)

2. TREASURE -Offer willingly from what you have (verses 4 – 9)

⁴ Moses said to the whole Israelite community, "This is what the LORD has commanded: ⁵ From what you have, take an offering for the LORD. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the LORD an offering of gold, silver and bronze; ⁶ blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ⁷ ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows ^[a] ; acacia wood; ⁸ olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; ⁹ and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

The Israelites were commanded to offer willingly what they had. During that time, they were commanded by the Lord to build the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting. At present, we can also contribute something for the furtherance of His Kingdom.

Illustration: J.L. Kraft, head of the Kraft Cheese Corporation, who had given approximately 25% of his enormous income to Christian causes for many years, said, "The only investment I ever made which has paid consistently increasing dividends is the money I have given to the Lord." J.D. Rockefeller said, "I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week." (W. A. Criswell, A Guidebook for Pastors, p. 154)

3. TALENT Offer your skills (verses 10 – 19)

¹⁰ "All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the LORD has commanded: ¹¹ the tabernacle with its tent and its covering, clasps, frames, crossbars, posts and bases; ¹² the ark with its poles and the atonement cover and the curtain that shields it; ¹³ the table with its poles and all its articles and the bread of the Presence; ¹⁴ the lampstand that is for light with its accessories, lamps and oil for the light; ¹⁵ the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; the curtain for the doorway at the entrance to the tabernacle; ¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils; the bronze basin with its stand; ¹⁷ the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard; ¹⁸ the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, and their ropes; ¹⁹ the woven garments worn for ministering in the sanctuary—both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests."

Israelites were also commanded to use their skills in building the Tabernacle. At that time, they can do and contribute a lot of things according their abilities. Same with us, we can also use our different skills and talents to glorify the Lord.

Illustration: In his book 70 X 7, The Freedom of Forgiveness, David Ugsberger tells of General William Booth, the founder of the salvation Army, who had lost his eyesight. His son Bramwell was given the difficult task of telling his father there would be no recovery. "Do you mean that I am blind?" the General asked. "I hear we must contemplate that," his son replied. The father continued,"I shall never see your face again?" "No, probably not in this world." "Bramwell," said General Booth, "I have done what I could for God and for His people with my eyes. Now I shall do what I can for God without my eyes." (David Ugsberger, 70 X 7, The Freedom of Forgiveness)

Whatever is done for God, without respect of its comparative character as related to other acts, is service, and only that is service. Service is, comprehensively speaking, doing the will of God. He is the object. All is for Him, for His sake, as unto the Lord, not as unto man. Hence, even the humblest act of humblest disciple acquires a certain divine quality by its being done with reference to Him. The supreme test of service is this: 'For whom am I doing this?' Much that we call service to Christ is not such at all....If we are doing this for Christ, we shall not care for human reward or even recognition. Our work must again be tested by three propositions: Is it work from God, as given us to do from Him; for God, as finding in Him its secret of power; and with God, as only a part of His work in which we engage as co-workers with Him." (A.T. Pierson wrote, The Truth)

In summary, the Lord has commanded us to observe a Sabbath of rest, offer something from what we have and glorify Him by using our talents and skills.

I hope we were enlightened by this message and were encouraged to give our best to the Lord. Let me end this by a poem from an unknown author:

Leftovers are such humble things,
We would not serve to a guest,
And yet we serve them to our Lord
Who deserve the very best
We give to Him leftover time,
Stray minutes here and there.
Leftover cash we give to Him,
Such few coins as we can spare.
We give our youth unto the world,
To hatred, lust and strife;
Then in declining years we give
To him the remnant of our life.

Thank you and God bless us all!