What Is a Freewill Offering, and What Can We Give God Today?
A while back, I was writing in my gratitude journal, and for whatever reason, I wrote that I was grateful for free will. I don’t remember exactly what all was going on that morning, but knowing me, I probably had about 85 things I thought I needed to be doing. Lol.
Emails needed answering, blog work needed to be done, something around the house probably needed my attention, and I’m sure there were a few things on my list that I had already carried over from the day before.
But instead of jumping straight into all of that, I made the decision to sit down and spend some time with the Lord. Nobody made me do it. I wasn’t getting a gold star for doing my Bible study, and there wasn’t going to be a heavenly alarm sounding if I skipped it. I simply chose to put God first that morning. That was why I wrote that I was grateful for free will.
Then I looked down at the Scripture for the day. It was Psalm 54.
Psalm 54:4-7 (NIV)
4 Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
in your faithfulness destroy them.
6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.
7 You have delivered me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
I stopped when I read the words “freewill offering.” I remember thinking, “Well, that’s interesting.” I had just written that I was grateful for free will, and now I was reading about a freewill offering. I’m not going to pretend that I immediately knew what that meant because I didn’t, so I looked it up.
What Is a Freewill Offering?
In the Old Testament, a freewill offering was a voluntary offering given to God. It wasn’t something someone gave because they were being forced to do it. It was given willingly, out of gratitude, devotion, and love for God.
When I read that, something clicked. That was what I had been trying to do that morning. I wasn’t bringing an animal to the temple as people did in biblical times, but I was giving God something valuable to me: my time and attention. I was putting everything else aside for a little while and saying, “Lord, You come first.”
That made me wonder how many things we do every day could become an offering to God when we do them willingly and with the right heart.
Giving God Our Time
Time might be one of the hardest things for us to give. I can give someone a dollar a whole lot easier than I can give them an hour. Lol.
Something always seems to demand our attention. The phone dings, the laundry buzzes, someone needs something, an appointment is coming up, and if you work from home like I do, there is always something else you could be doing.
That’s why intentionally giving God our time matters so much. It says, “Lord, all these other things may be important, but You are more important.”
I wrote recently about what we are seeking and how we usually find what we are looking for. I think the same thing applies to our time and attention. If I want a closer relationship with the Lord, I have to intentionally seek Him instead of hoping I somehow find a few spare minutes at the end of the day.
Mark 1:35 (NIV)
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Jesus intentionally stepped away from everything around Him to spend time with the Father. If He did that, I probably shouldn’t be surprised that I need to do the same.
Obedience From Love, Not Obligation
Scripture teaches us to pray, study God’s Word, give thanks, love others, serve others, and obey God. But God doesn’t want our relationship with Him to become nothing more than checking boxes.
Read Bible. Check.
Pray. Check.
Go to church. Check.
Help someone. Check.
Thank God. Check.
Done.
That might look good on paper, but God has always cared about the heart behind what we do.
2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)
7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
That verse is specifically about giving, but it contains a principle worth thinking about. God loves willing hearts. There is a big difference between saying, “Fine, I’ll do it because I’m supposed to,” and saying, “Lord, I want to give this to You.”
What Can We Offer God Today?
Once I started thinking this way, I realized we have much more to offer God than money. We can give Him our time, our praise, our generosity, our obedience, and our service to others. We can forgive someone we would rather stay mad at, encourage someone who is struggling, pray for someone who needs it, or choose patience when every ounce of us would rather lose our temper.
Sometimes the offering might simply be saying, “Lord, I had something else planned, but I feel You nudging me in another direction, so I’m going to follow You.” Those things may not look impressive to anyone else, but God sees them.
We Give Because God Gave First
There is another side to this that I don’t want us to miss. We don’t give to God so that He will love us. We don’t serve Him to earn salvation, and we don’t read our Bible enough times and finally qualify for His grace. God loved us first.
Romans 5:8 (NIV)
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus was God’s gift to us before we ever had anything to offer Him. So our response doesn’t have to be, “I better do enough for God, so He’ll be pleased with me.” Instead, it can be, “Look at everything God has done for me. What can I willingly give back to Him?”
That changes everything. Gratitude can turn obedience from something we feel obligated to do into something we willingly offer.
What Does Your Offering Look Like?
Your offering today might look different from mine. Maybe mine is getting up early to spend time reading Scripture when I would really like another thirty minutes of sleep. Yours might be calling someone who is lonely, sitting with an aging parent when you have plenty of other things that need doing, giving financially when you feel led to help, or obeying God when it would be much easier not to.
It might even mean keeping your mouth shut when you have a REALLY good comeback loaded and ready to fire. That one may count as an extra-special offering. Lol.
The offering doesn’t have to be impressive. It simply needs to come from a willing heart that says, “Lord, this day belongs to You. Show me what You want me to do with it.”
Choosing God Today
Finding this old journal entry reminded me that there will always be 85 things competing for my attention. The laundry will come back, the inbox will refill, another errand will pop up, and something will always need doing. But I still get to choose what comes first.
We aren’t trying to earn God’s love by giving Him our time, obedience, or service. He loved us first, and Jesus has already given us more than we could ever repay. Our response can simply be gratitude: “Lord, because of everything You have done for me, I choose You.”
Maybe that is one of the sweetest freewill offerings we can give Him.
To GOD Goes The Glory!
Have a Blessed Day!
Let’s End With A Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us first and for the gift of Your grace through Jesus. Help us to give You our time, attention, obedience, and praise willingly, not out of guilt or obligation, but from hearts filled with gratitude.
When life gets busy and everything competes for our attention, remind us to choose You first. Show us what we can offer You today, and give us willing hearts to follow wherever You lead.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
