Daily Thoughts from Exodus: Investing Value (25:1-9)

The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. (Exodus 25:1-9, ESV)

Just as Yahweh had a meal with the priests and Moses, so He wants to have fellowship and communion with the nation of Israel as a whole. He wants to dwell in their midst. His “dwelling place,” however, cannot be just any place. For the people to understand and acknowledge just how amazing He is there must be a tent of His design and that is costly to put together. And they must make an investment in it. God enriched them through the gifts the Egyptians gave them as they left the country. What they received from the hand of God they may now offer for this tent.

It is often observed that what people get for free they treat with less value. If I’m going to pay you $500 for advice I’m more likely to take your advice. We value what we invest in. This doesn’t mean that our places of meeting as the church have to be ornate like the tabernacle, but we must have an investment in them. And even more importantly, we must have an investment in the Lord. Our hearts must move us to contribute to the things He values, especially His work in the world to see the gospel of the kingdom made known. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be, also” (Matthew 6:21).

Andrew Fuller was a British preacher seeking money for a Christian orphanage in London. He went to a businessman he knew and explained the need. The businessman said, “Andrew, here’s 5 lbs. seeing it’s for you.” Fuller wisely tore up the check and said, “It’s not for me.”  The businessman wrote another. “Here’s 10 lbs, seeing it’s for Jesus Christ.”