“You have bought Me no sweet cane with money” (Isaiah 43:24)

Sweet cane was used to make incense. Worshippers at the temple sometimes brought incense to be burned on the altar as a sign of gratitude and affection to God. These votive offerings were not required by law. So, Israel, in the time of her backsliding, brought very few votive offerings: this was evidence of a coldness of heart towards God and His house. 

 Could God’s complaint of indifference be brought against you? Those who have only a widow’s mite to give, though rich in faith, will be accepted just as if they gave everything they owned (Mark 21:44); but, dear reader, do you give just the minimum, because you think you have to? God wants you to give willingly, not by compulsion, a reasonable offering. “For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:10). “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:6-9). 

 Dear Lord, You purchased me with Your Life, and I know I should glorify You in my body and my spirit, because they belong to You (1 Corinthians 6:18). Please accept my love offering as a mother would receive a bunch of wild flowers picked by her child. May I never grow cold toward You. I will give You the first fruits of my increase, and pay You tithes of all, and confess, “all things come from You, And of Your own I have given You” (1 Chronicles 29:14).