At church this morning, the pastor's sermon was about Jesus being the bread of life.
The
pastor quoted Albert Schweitzer, who said that we are nourished when we
serve and feel as if we're a part of something larger than ourselves. I
think that service, in part, is something that can spiritually sustain
us, and Jesus in John 4:34 says that his food is to do the will of his
Father who sent him. Granted, there can be burn-out from service, as we
interact with people and issues and wonder if we're even making a
difference. But it's gratifying when we are provided with an
opportunity to give.
I thought about this last night during my
daily quiet time, which is currently in the Book of Exodus. In Exodus
36, the Israelites contribute more than enough for the construction of
the Tabernacle, to the point that they need to be told to stop
donating. The Israelites may have had a variety of motivations for
their abundant giving. Perhaps they still felt that God was mad at them
on account of the Golden Calf sin and they wanted to get on God's good
side. Or maybe they realized that they had already received God's
forgiveness through the intercession of Moses and they wanted to earn
that forgiveness, to treat their second chance seriously, or to express
gratitude to God for that forgiveness. Or they could have simply been
happy at their opportunity to give. They could be giving people at
times, for they were eager to give from their riches to construct and
worship the Golden Calf. Now, they had a chance to give to God.