1 Chronicles 29: Giving Back to the Lord What Belongs to Him

Introduction

"It's my money. It's my house. It's my car. It's my time. It's my life." The preacher starts from words we use without a second thought. Money earned through hard work, skills gained through effort, the life we were given: we think of all of it as ours. He does not say this is good or bad. He asks a different question, a question of faith: where does what I have come from?

The health that lets me work, who gave it to me? Where do my abilities and my wisdom come from? And my life itself, who gave it to me? If we trace everything back to the root, we find that nothing is truly ours: everything is grace received from God.

This message was preached at a morning prayer service of Osaka Onnuri Christian Church and draws on David's prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10-19. From it, the preacher draws a simple definition of consecration and three truths about the attitude with which we serve the Lord.

Outline of the Message

1. A Prayer in the Face of Immense Offerings

David had prepared a vast quantity of gold, silver and materials for building the temple. He was not alone: the leaders of the people also gave, willingly and with joy, and everything needed for the temple was gathered in abundance.
The previous day's passage gave the figures: 5,000 talents of gold, 10,000 darics, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron (1 Chronicles 29:7). Because those numbers don't mean much on their own, the preacher had an illustration prepared: about 170 tons of gold, 340 tons of silver, 612 tons of bronze and 3,400 tons of iron.
In ten-ton trucks, that comes to 17 trucks of gold, 34 of silver, 61 of bronze and 340 of iron. "Even like this, the picture may still not say much, but at any rate, these were colossal amounts of materials that were offered."
Faced with such a sight, David could have boasted. Instead, he prays, and the heart of consecration is found in that prayer.
"Consecration is not presenting to the Lord what is mine. It is returning to the Lord, with joy and gratitude, what he has given me." The title of the message echoes that day's meditation in the Living Life reading guide: consecration that offers to the Lord what belongs to the Lord.

2. Everything Belongs to the Lord

"Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours" (1 Chronicles 29:11). David also confesses that riches and honor come from God and that he rules over all (verse 12).
At that moment David was king of Israel. He held great power and immense wealth. Yet he did not think he had obtained them with his own hands, by his own strength. He knew that everything was grace received from God.
We sometimes forget this. "I assume health is a given, that being alive is a given." If my work goes well, it is thanks to my efforts. If I succeed, it is because I am talented.
Effort matters, the preacher acknowledges. But the effort itself, the strength to make an effort and the very opportunity to work: doesn't all of that come first from God?
So what I have is not meant to be used only for myself: I must manage it well, according to God's will. The 24 hours given equally to everyone, what do you spend them on? And the abilities and gifts God has entrusted to you?
"The first step of consecration is to recognize that the true owner of what I have is not me, but God." He invites us to begin the day with this confession: "Lord, everything I hold in my hands, you gave it to me."

3. Being Able to Give Is Already a Grace

The preacher presents verse 14 as the central verse of the day: "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly like this? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you."
Looking at all those gathered materials, David does not say, "Look at everything we have offered." He does not glorify himself. He asks: who are we? He knows better than anyone that being able to give to God is itself a grace.
Would God be unable to act without our offerings? Certainly not. He is the Creator of heaven and earth, the Almighty, and nothing is impossible for him. And yet he invites us to take part in his work.
"Isn't that alone an immense grace and blessing?" God could accomplish everything by himself, and he calls each of us to take part in his wonderful works.
When we serve at church, we sometimes think: "I serve the church so much, I make so many sacrifices." We must never forget that serving God is already a grace. It is not something owed to us: God brought us into his grace and enables us to serve him by his grace.

4. A Life as Brief as a Shadow

In verse 15, David confesses that our life passes like a shadow: "For we are aliens before you, and foreigners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding."
We all came into the world with nothing. One day we will leave this world, leaving everything on earth.
What matters, then, is not the quantity of what we own, but how we use what God has given us.
Consecration is not limited to offerings or material possessions. The 24 hours of the day, our abilities, our gifts, our experience and life itself: using them for God's will is the consecration the Bible speaks of.
The preacher suggests a prayer for the day: "Lord, everything I have, I received from you. It is yours. Use it for your glory."

5. God Looks at the Heart More Than the Size of the Offering

The third truth: what pleases God is not the size of the offering but a sincere heart. "I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things" (1 Chronicles 29:17).
David and the people did not give out of duty, "because it had to be done." They gave of their own accord, spontaneously, with joy and gratitude.
God does not look only at the visible result or the amount given. He looks at the heart behind the offering, the motivation.
In the church, two people can do the same service. One thinks: "Nobody else is doing it, so I have no choice." The other: "Here is the service I can offer the Lord, and I will serve him with joy." The fruit of that service will eventually show the difference.
With the first attitude, service gradually becomes an obligation, then a burden. We start judging those who don't serve, and joy disappears.
With the second, we think: "What a joy that God loves someone like me and uses me, how thankful I am!" The service is the same, but its meaning is entirely different.

6. Passing On a Whole Heart to the Lord

In verse 19, David prays for his son: "and give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made preparation."
David does not ask only for the completion of the temple. He longs with all his heart that Solomon would obey God with all his heart.
The greatest inheritance he wanted to leave the next generation was neither gold nor silver, nothing shiny: it was a faith that loves God with all its heart and obeys his Word as it is written.
The preacher applies this verse to the family and to the church: the church's relocation project will soon enter its concrete phase. Preparing a good building, facilities and equipment is necessary, but something matters more: that everyone who gathers there follows God's will with a sincere heart.
And not only us: we must pray with one heart that a generation of children will rise up who serve the Lord in that same spirit. What God asks of each of us is not first our offerings, it is our heart itself.

7. It All Begins with God's Love for Us

David gave an enormous amount, but he did not turn it into a personal achievement. He knew that everything was grace. That is why he could say "everything is yours" and give back to the Lord with joy and gratitude.
The preacher invites each person to ask: "What am I using what God has given me for? Isn't it for my own pleasure, my entertainment, my own satisfaction?"
Consecration is not reserved for pastors and missionaries. Loving your family at home, working with integrity at the office, serving faithfully at church: all of this is consecration to God.
What we must never forget: before we loved God, before we consecrated ourselves to him, God loved us so much that he gave us Jesus Christ. Everything starts there.
When our eyes are opened to this reality, we cannot help but consecrate ourselves. Our consecration begins as a response to the Lord's great love and grace.
He sums up the message in one sentence that the congregation read aloud together: "Consecration is not presenting to the Lord what is mine. It is returning to him with joy and gratitude everything I have received from him."

Key Takeaways

Everything you have, your health, your time, your abilities and your life, comes from God: the first step of consecration is to recognize that he is the true owner.
Being able to give to God and serve him is already a grace: he does not need us, and yet he invites us to take part in his work.
Our life is brief as a shadow: what matters is not what we own, but how we use it.
God looks at the heart more than the size of the offering: service done out of obligation grows heavy, while service born of gratitude keeps its joy.
Our consecration is a response to God's love, which gave us Jesus Christ first.

Personal Application

What do you most spontaneously call "mine": your money, your time, your career, your life? What would change if you received it as a gift from God?
What did you spend your 24 hours on yesterday? What part of your time, your gifts and your experience could you consecrate to the Lord this week?
In your service at church, do you recognize yourself more in "nobody else is doing it" or in "what a joy that God uses me"?
What inheritance do you want to leave your children or the coming generation: possessions, or a heart that loves God and obeys his Word?
How can you serve God today at home, at work and at church in response to his love?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does David say in his prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10-19?

After the people brought immense offerings for building the temple, David does not boast. He blesses Yahweh and acknowledges that everything in heaven and on earth belongs to him, that riches and honor come from him, and that the people have only offered him what they received from his hand.

What is consecration according to this message?

Consecration is not presenting to the Lord what is mine. It is returning to him with joy and gratitude everything I have received from him. It is not limited to money: it touches our time, abilities, gifts, experience and our whole life, at home, at work and at church.

Why does God look at the heart rather than the size of the offering?

According to 1 Chronicles 29:17, God tries the heart and has pleasure in uprightness. Two people can do the same service: one out of obligation, because nobody else does it, the other with joy, because God loves them and uses them. Service out of obligation becomes a burden, while service born of gratitude keeps its joy.