S: 2 Kings 12:10 The priest Jehoiada then took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the stele, on the right as one entered the temple of the Lord.
O: Joash has instructed the priests to use the money they collected from the people to help tend to the repairs of the temple, but they had not. So he gave the people a way to give to the church more directly.
A: Giving money for the intention of a job being completed is hard. I’ve learned the hard way not to pay up front for a service, because it may not be completed correctly. For these people, money was collected from the priests for the census and assessment, as well as freely given from the heart. The priests didn’t use the money as instructed for the temple, instead they kept if for themselves.
There are still lots of corrupt systems going on now, in which money is given (or taken) for supposed good purposes, but then squandered or kept for other personal gains. So Jehoiada institutes a collection box for people to be able to drop off their donations and taxes, so people could be assured it was going to the churches needs.
We sometimes are our own corrupt systems. Instead of putting money where we need it, we thought it on silly pleasures or irrelevant things. For a long time, I got a Starbucks coffee quite often. Until I really sat down and calculated how much I was spending there (and thought about how many calories I was taking in on just coffee drinks), I was willingly blind to the fact that I was wasting money. And then couldn’t understand why we didn’t have enough to our needs. I wasn’t the only free spender in our house, but I was the one in charge of keeping track so it was my job to get it straight. And I did. I prayed to God for him to make me see where my faults were, where we could cut back, so we could give to where we should and put away for our needs.
Now, I make my own coffee at home daily. I only get Starbucks when I have a gift card. This is just one of the examples of checking our own system to make sure we aren’t being as the priests were. Once I sat down and really looked at our budget and spendings, I found several other places. And by checking ourselves to where we should be, we are able to save more money each month and get our debt down. By putting my finances in God’s hands, we were able to focus on what we are growing and not where we lost it. We are repairing our temple as needed now.
K: Lord, your wisdom is more than all the gold on this earth. I seek your wisdom so I may have a better understanding of our place here, to see how you intend to use us for your greater good. Let me be a light for you, Lord.
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