Church Volume One: An 8 Day Devotional By Jesus CultureSample

Insatiable - Kim Walker-Smith

Our pastor, Banning Liebscher, once commented how funny it was that there were people who would get so offended when the topic of tithing came up. It is somehow so offensive to them to think that God would demand ten percent of everything. But what they don’t realize is that God doesn’t want just ten percent - He wants it all. He wants your heart, soul, mind, body, family, trust, finances; everything. To follow Christ, is to surrender your all to Him and lay down your life to walk with Him. When Jesus went to the Cross to willingly lay down His life for us, so that we could be reconciled to the Father, having access to Him and His Presence, it was not just for a piece of our hearts. He did that for our whole heart, every single piece, healed and restored.  Sometimes it is so easy to get offended or hung up on a tiny thing and fail to see the bigger picture. The offense can creep in and grow bigger, causing us to hold God at a distance, making a demand for answers or resolution. There was a point in my life that I realized the offense in my heart had grown and I was holding God at a distance, demanding that He answer the questions in my heart; where were You when the bad things happened? Why did You let them happen? I wanted so badly to be closer to Jesus and I knew that this offense was in the way. I decided to lay down the offense and allow my need for Jesus to become bigger and greater than my need for the answers to my questions. Today, consider if there are any places in your heart that you have been holding back from God. Take courage and choose Him above every offense. He is the all-consuming fire; whose sacrifice demands all of our trust and our hearts given completely to Him and He is worthy of all.