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64 Bible Verses about Bad Offering
When you choose to live without God, it's easy to lose that awareness of Him and start making choices that aren't aligned with His ways. Maybe you haven't truly encountered Him yet. Our hearts can be so deceitful, always looking for ways to satisfy our own twisted desires, driven by that inner restlessness.
The only way to live a righteous life is to keep God's word close to your heart and follow His will. That's how genuine goodness grows from deep within.
God isn't pleased when offerings are misused. They should be used to grow His work and spread the Gospel to everyone, fulfilling the command He gave us. Prayer is key to making sure your offerings are used the right way and that you're following God's leading.
You also say to people, “You may make a promise by the altar in the temple. Then it is not a serious promise. You do not have to do it. But you may also make a promise by the gifts on that altar. Then it is a serious promise and you must do it.”
You are people who cannot understand what is true. Think about which of these things is more important. Is it the gifts on the altar? Or is it the altar itself? It is the altar that makes the gifts special.
I will chase out the nations who live there now, so that you can live there. You must not live in the way that those people live. I hate them because of all the disgusting things that they have done.
I have told you that the land will belong to you as your home. It is a land where there is plenty of food and drink, enough for everyone. I am the Lord your God. I have chosen you to be separate from other people.
So you must know the difference between animals that are clean and animals that are unclean. You must know the difference between birds that are clean and birds that are unclean. You must not eat anything that I have told you is unclean. That includes any small thing that moves across the ground.
When you offer an animal as a sacrifice to the Lord your God, it must be perfect. Do not bring any sheep or bull that has something wrong with it. The Lord hates any gift like that.
Each of you should think carefully and then decide how much you can give. Then you will not be sad to give that money. Nobody has made you give it. God loves someone who is happy to give help to other people.
I say to you, “A man should not rob God. But you are robbing me.” But you ask, “How do we rob you?” I say, “You do not give to me the tithes and the offerings that you should give.”
Maybe you go to the temple to give your gift to God. You take it to the altar. But then you remember that your brother is angry with you.
You must leave your gift there in front of God's altar. First you must go and find your brother. Tell him that you are sorry. Then you can both become friends with each other again. After that, you can return to the altar and give your gift to God.
All those rich people have plenty of money. They only gave a small part of that. But this woman has almost nothing. She put everything that she had into the box. That money was what she needed to live.’
But Abel brought to God some of the first lambs that his sheep had given birth to. He brought pieces of fat from the best of his lambs to offer them to God. Abel and his gift pleased the Lord.
But God was not pleased with Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry. His face looked sad.
The Lord Almighty says this to the priests: ‘A son respects his father. A servant respects his master. If I am really your father and your master, why do you not respect me? You are my priests, but you insult my name. But then you ask, “What have we done to insult your name?”
You insult my name when you offer unclean sacrifices to me on my altar. But you ask, “How have we offered unclean sacrifices to you?” You have shown that you do not respect the Lord's altar as important.
You offer blind animals as a sacrifice to me. You know that is wrong. You offer to me animals that cannot walk or animals that are ill. That is also a wrong thing to do. You would not give gifts like that to your city's ruler. If you did, he would surely not accept them. He would not be happy with your gifts.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.
I will only accept your gift if it is a perfect male animal. It can be a bull, a sheep or a goat.
‘Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy offerings from Israel's people. Those are gifts that the people offer to me. The priests must not spoil the honour of my holy name. I am the Lord. Tell them this, as a rule that will continue for ever:
You must not offer to me any animal that has something wrong with it. If it is not perfect, I will not accept it as a gift from you.
One day, it was time for the harvest. Cain brought to the Lord some of his crops as an offering.
But Abel brought to God some of the first lambs that his sheep had given birth to. He brought pieces of fat from the best of his lambs to offer them to God. Abel and his gift pleased the Lord.
But God was not pleased with Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry. His face looked sad.
But if a firstborn animal is not perfect, you must not offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. It must not be blind or have weak legs. It must not have anything wrong with it.
You must not offer to me any animal that has something wrong with it. If it is not perfect, I will not accept it as a gift from you.
This is also the rule if someone brings an animal as a sacrifice for a friendship offering. He may do that because of a special promise. Or he may do it because he chooses to give it. It may be a bull, a sheep or a goat. I will only accept it if the animal is perfect. It must not have anything wrong with it.
You must not offer to the Lord an animal that is blind. It must not have a broken bone or a body that has become spoiled. It must not have sores or any other disease on its skin. You must not offer on the altar any animal like that as a gift to the Lord.
You offer blind animals as a sacrifice to me. You know that is wrong. You offer to me animals that cannot walk or animals that are ill. That is also a wrong thing to do. You would not give gifts like that to your city's ruler. If you did, he would surely not accept them. He would not be happy with your gifts.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.
You insult my name when you offer unclean sacrifices to me on my altar. But you ask, “How have we offered unclean sacrifices to you?” You have shown that you do not respect the Lord's altar as important.
When you offer a friendship offering as a sacrifice to me, do it in the right way. Then I will accept your gift.
You also say, “It is too much trouble to serve the Lord.” You think that you are too important to serve me.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says. ‘You offer to me animals that cannot walk or that are ill. You have even robbed other people to get some of these animals. Do you think that I will accept these unclean animals from you? Will I be happy with them?’ That is what the Lord says.
‘You may promise to offer to me a valuable male animal from among your sheep. But then you change your mind. Instead, you offer to me an animal that has no value. I will surely punish you when you cheat me like that. Remember that I am a great king. People of all nations in the world respect my name with fear.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.
But Samuel said, ‘What makes the Lord happy? Which is better? Is he more pleased when people offer burnt offerings and sacrifices to him? Or is he more pleased when people obey him? Listen! It is better to obey the Lord than to offer sacrifices to him. That is true even if you offer to him the best animals that you have.
If you refuse to let them go, you will have more trouble. If you still keep them in Egypt,
The Lord hates it when wicked people offer sacrifices to him. He hates it even more when they do it with an evil purpose.
The lamb that you choose must have nothing wrong with it. It must be a male lamb that is one year old. It can be either a young sheep or a young goat.
You must still give the regular burnt offering with the proper grain offering. You must give them with the proper drink offerings. The animals must not have anything wrong with them.
The Lord says, ‘All your sacrifices are not important to me. I have received too many sacrifices that you have burned as gifts to me. I have received too many sheep and fat animals. I do not want any more blood from bulls, goats and lambs that you have offered to me as sacrifices. They do not give me any pleasure.
You come to worship me in my temple. But are you doing what I want? Did I ask you to march round the temple yards with all your animals?
Do not bring any more useless gifts to offer to me! I do not like your incense. You like to have feasts at new moons, or on Sabbath days. But because of your sins, I hate all your holy meetings.
Then Jesus looked up and he saw something that was happening in the temple. There was a box for money there. Many rich people were putting their gifts of money into the box.
Jesus then said to them, ‘People from one country will attack the people from another country. Kings and their armies will fight against other kings and their armies.
The ground will shake with great earthquakes. In many different places, people will be hungry, with no food. People will suffer with bad diseases. Things that show God's power will happen in the sky so that people are afraid.
But before all those things happen, people will take hold of you. They will cause you to suffer. They will take you to the leaders in their meeting places and they will put you in prisons. They will make you stand in front of kings and rulers. All this will happen because you are my disciples.
This will be the time to tell people the good news about me.
You will have to answer their questions. But decide not to think now about what you will say. Wait until that time comes.
I will give you the right words to speak at that time. I will help you to be wise. Your enemies will not be able to argue against you. They will be quiet.
Even your parents and other people in your family will turn against you. They will give you to your enemies. They will even kill some of you.
Everybody will hate you because you are my disciples.
But your life will be safe with me. You will not lose even one hair from your head.
Yes, you will have true life, if you remain strong.
Then he saw a woman who was coming there. She was a widow and she was very poor. She put two small coins into the box. They had only a little value
One day you will see Jerusalem with armies all around it. Then you will know that enemies will soon destroy that city.
People in Judea must then run away to the hills to hide. People that are inside the city must leave it. People that are outside in the fields must not go back into the city.
This is when God will punish the people in the city. Then all the things will happen that are written in the Bible.
That will be a bad time for women who are soon to have a baby! It will also be a bad time for those women who have little babies! Yes, very bad things will happen to all the people of this country. God will be very angry with the people who live here.
At that time, enemies will fight God's people and kill many of them in war. They will take some of them away as prisoners to live in all the other countries. Foreign nations will destroy Jerusalem. They will rule here until their time comes to an end.’
‘You will see strange things happen to the sun and to the moon and to the stars. Down on earth, people in many countries will become very afraid. The sea will make a lot of noise with great waves.
These things will frighten people so that they become very weak. The powerful things in the sky will shake. People will be very afraid about what will soon happen in the world.
Then they will see the Son of Man as he comes in a cloud. He will have great power and bright glory.
When these things begin to happen, stand up! Be brave and look up, because God will save you very soon.’
Then Jesus told them a story to explain this future time. He said, ‘Think about fig trees and other trees as well.
Jesus said, ‘Let me tell you this. This poor woman has put a bigger gift into the box than all the other people have put in there.
When you see new leaves on a tree, you know that summer will come soon. Nobody needs to tell you that.
In the same way, you will see these strange things happening. Then you will know that the kingdom of God will soon be here.
I tell you this. The people who are alive now will not all die until all these things happen.
One day, the earth and the sky will have an end. But my words will be there for ever.
But be careful how you live! Do not eat or drink too much. Do not fill your minds with thoughts about what you need to live. If you do, that day will come as a surprise. It will catch you suddenly like a trap!
It will happen to everyone who lives anywhere on the earth.
So be ready all the time! Continue to pray that you will be strong. Then you will remain safe through all these things that must happen! You will stand in front of the Son of Man and you will not be afraid.’
Every day Jesus was teaching people in the yard of the temple. Each night he went out of the city and he stayed on the Mount of Olives.
Each morning he returned to the temple. All the people were going there early in the morning to listen to him.
All those rich people have plenty of money. They only gave a small part of that. But this woman has almost nothing. She put everything that she had into the box. That money was what she needed to live.’
The Lord God says, ‘These people open their mouths to worship me. They use their lips to say that I am great. But they are not really thinking about me. When they worship me, they use rules that people have taught them.
They may offer to me sweet incense that comes from Sheba. But that does not please me. The spices that they bring from lands far away do not please me either. I will not accept the burnt offerings or other sacrifices that they offer to me.’
God says, “These people use their lips to say that I am great, but they do not want to obey me.
They worship me, but what they say has no purpose. They teach their own rules, which I did not give to them.” ’
Remember to be kind to other people. Share with them the things that you have. God is happy with sacrifices like that.
The Lord says, ‘When you have your festivals, I hate them! When you meet to worship me, it does not make me happy!
When you bring burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, they do not please me. I will not accept your friendship offerings of fat animals.
When you sing songs to worship me, I will not listen. They are just noise! I do not want to hear the music of your harps.
When wicked people offer sacrifices to the Lord, he hates it. But he is pleased when good people pray to him.
When I come to meet the Lord, what offering should I bring with me? I bend down low to worship him, the mighty God. Should I bring young cows that are one year old to make burnt offerings to him?
Perhaps he will accept a gift of a thousand male sheep, or ten thousand rivers of olive oil. I have turned against God. Should I offer to God my firstborn son to pay for my sin? If I give my own child to him as a sacrifice, will that be enough to pay for my sin?
No! The Lord has told each of you what is good. He has shown you how he wants you to live. You must do what is right and fair. You must always be kind to other people. And you must be careful to obey your God.
Jesus then said to them, ‘You should do good things to help people. But be careful! Do not do this so that other people see you. If you want other people to praise you, your Father in heaven will not praise you.
We want the day when you rule everyone to come soon. We want everyone to obey you on earth, as everyone in heaven obeys you.
Please give us the food that we need today.
We have forgiven people who have done wrong things to us. In the same way, please forgive us for the wrong things that we have done.
Do not let us agree to do wrong things. Keep us safe from Satan, the evil one.” ’
Then Jesus said, ‘When other people do wrong things against you, you must forgive them. Then God, your Father in heaven, will also forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.
But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive you.’
Jesus then said, ‘You may decide to fast for some time. But do not look sad so that people know you are doing a special thing. Hypocrites want people to see how good they are. They make their faces dirty. Then other people can see that they are fasting. I tell you this: people have praised them and that is the only gift that they will get.
But when you fast for some time, you should wash your face. Make your hair look nice.
Then other people will not know that you are doing a special thing. But God, your Father, will know. You do not see him but he sees what you do secretly. In return, he will give you good things.
Do not want to have many valuable things here in the world. Insects or water can destroy those kinds of things. Or people may come into your house and they can rob you of those things.
When you give something to a poor person, do not tell anyone about it. The hypocrites do this in their meeting places. They also do it in the busy streets of the town. They do this so that other people will praise them. I tell you this. They have already received their gift. God will not give them anything more.
Instead, you should want to have valuable things in heaven. Insects and water cannot destroy anything there. Men cannot rob you of your things there.
Then you will be thinking a lot about heaven, because that is where you keep your valuable things.
Your eyes are like lamps and your body is like a room. Make sure that your eyes are like a clean lamp, then your whole body will have light.
If your eyes are not good, then your whole body will be in the dark. If the light in you has become dark, you will be living in a very dark place.’
Jesus said, ‘Nobody can work as a slave for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other master. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.
So I tell you this. You should not worry about how to stay alive. Do not worry about the food and drink that you need. Do not worry about the clothes that you need to wear. Your life is more important than the food that you eat. Your body is more important than your clothes.
Think about the wild birds. They do not plant seeds in the ground. They do not cut down plants to eat. They have no buildings to store food. But God, your Father in heaven, gives them food to eat. You are much more valuable than the birds.
Even if you always worry about your life, you cannot make it as much as one hour longer!
You should not worry about your clothes. Think about how the wild flowers grow. They do not work or make clothes for themselves.
But I tell you this. Even one wild flower is more beautiful than King Solomon was. And King Solomon wore the most beautiful clothes.
So when you give something to a poor person, keep it a secret from other people. Do not tell anyone. Your left hand will not even know what your right hand does!
It is God that gives beautiful clothes even to the grass. One day the grass is growing in the field, but the next day people will cut it and burn it. God will certainly take care of you, much more than he takes care of the grass. You should trust him more than you do!
So do not worry about these things. Do not always say, “What will we eat?”, or “What will we drink?”, or “What will we wear?”
People who do not know God are always trying to get these things. But as for you, your Father in heaven knows that you need them.
Instead, always think about the things that are important in the kingdom of heaven. Always do what God shows you is right. Then he will also give you the things that you need each day.
So do not worry about what might happen tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own problems. It is enough for you to be thinking each day about the problems of that day.’
Nobody else will know about the good thing that you have done. But God sees the things that you do secretly. In return, he will give you good things.’
I would be happy to offer sacrifices to you, but that is not what you really want. You do not want a burnt offering from me.
You want me to be humble and sorry. That is the sacrifice that you want. When people are humble and they turn away from their sins, you will not refuse them.
It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's Law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! When you grow spices to cook with food, you give a tenth part of these small things to God. You are right to obey this rule. But you do not obey the more important parts of God's Law. You do not help people in a good way. You are not kind to them. You do not always do what God says is right. You should have done these important things as well as the other small things.
Take an offering to give to the Lord from the things that you have. Everyone who wants to give something may choose to give these things: gold, silver, bronze;
Many people were giving their gifts for the temple. There was a box for money there. People threw their coins into it. Jesus sat near the box and he watched them. Many rich people put a lot of money into the box.
But then a woman came there. She was a widow and she was very poor. She put two small coins that had only a little value into the box.
Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said to them, ‘I tell you this. This poor woman has put a better gift into the box than all the other people have put in there.
All those rich people have plenty of money. They only put a small part of that into the box. But this woman has almost nothing. She put in all the money that she had. That was the money that she needed to live.’
A person who is like that never knows what to do. He has many ideas in his mind. He should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
You yourselves are also like stones that are alive. God is using you, like stones, to build a house where his Spirit lives. You will serve him like his special priests who offer sacrifices to him. God will be happy with the spiritual offerings that you give to him, because you belong to Jesus Christ.
Lord, I always try to do what is right. I continue to trust you all the time. So please show that I am not guilty of wrong things.
Those wicked people are always ready to do evil things. They use bribes to get what they want.
But I always try to do what is right. Please save me and be kind to me!
Now I stand in a safe place. I will praise the Lord when his people meet together to worship him.
Test me, Lord, and see how I have lived. Look into my mind and see my thoughts.
I may give all my things to poor people. I may let other people take my body to burn it. But that would not help me if I do not love others.
My Christian friends, God has been very kind to us. Because of that, I really want you to serve God with your whole life. Offer your bodies to him like a sacrifice that continues to live. Serve him with everything that you have, and that will please him. That is the true way to worship God.
‘You may promise to offer to me a valuable male animal from among your sheep. But then you change your mind. Instead, you offer to me an animal that has no value. I will surely punish you when you cheat me like that. Remember that I am a great king. People of all nations in the world respect my name with fear.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.
Do not deceive yourselves. Nobody can make God seem foolish. Think about a farmer who plants seeds in his field. The same kind of crops will grow as the seeds which he plants. That will be his harvest.
It is the same in our lives. A person may do the things that please his own human nature. The harvest from their human nature will be punishment and death. Or a person may do the things that please God's Spirit. The harvest from God's Spirit will be life with God for ever.
Even when you do ask God, you do not receive anything. That is because you ask for the wrong reason. You just want to use these things to make yourselves happy.
When people like to have lots of money, it causes all kinds of bad things to happen. Some people have stopped believing the message about Christ because they want to get more money. As a result, they have caused themselves to become sad with many troubles.
The things that your human nature wants to do are completely different from the things that God's Spirit wants. The things that God's Spirit wants are completely different from the things that our human nature wants. Our own thoughts fight against what God's Spirit wants us to do. As a result, you are not free to do the things that you really want to do.
When you go to God's temple, be careful what you do. Listen carefully when you come near to God. Do not offer sacrifices in the way that foolish people do. They do not even know that they are doing something bad.
People who love money never have enough. They may get more and more valuable things, but they are never happy. This also has no purpose.
As a person's money becomes more, there are more people who want a share of it. Money does not help the people who have a lot of it. They see it, but it quickly disappears.
Someone who has worked hard all day will sleep well at night. That is true even if they have not had much food to eat. But the rich man worries about his riches. So he does not sleep well.
I have seen another terrible thing that happens on the earth. Some people may store their riches, but it does not help them in a time of trouble.
Something may happen in the future that causes their money to disappear. After they die, no money remains for their children.
When people are born, they bring nothing with them. When they die, they take nothing away with them. All their hard work finally leaves them with nothing.
This is also a terrible thing to happen. People leave this earth with nothing, as they came into it with nothing. All their hard work has been useless, like someone who tries to catch the wind.
Even if people are rich, they do not enjoy their food. They suffer all through their lives. They are upset, angry and sick.
But I realized that there is one good thing for people to do. We should be happy to eat and to drink. And we should enjoy the hard work that we do on the earth. That is what God wants us to do during the short time that he has given us on this earth.
God gives some people a lot of money and valuable things. He helps them to enjoy those things and to be happy with their work. All of this is a gift from God.
You should not speak too soon. Think carefully before you make a promise to God. God is in heaven and you are here on the earth. So do not say too much.
Who may climb up the hill of the Lord? Who can stand in his holy place?
Only the person who does what is right, and who has pure thoughts. He does not worship idols and he does not make false promises.
If God has helped you to make others feel strong, then you should do that. If God has helped you to share your things with others, do that seriously. If God has helped you to be a leader, do that carefully. If God has helped you to be kind to others, do that happily.
If you really want to give, then God will accept your gift. God does not want you to give more than you are able to give. He will be happy about what you can give.
My purpose is not to bring trouble to you. You should not have pain while other people have plenty. Instead, both you and they should have enough.
At this time, you yourselves have plenty. So you are able to give to those people who do not have enough. One day, things may change. They may have plenty, and you may not have enough. Then they can give money to help you. In that way, you will all have enough when you need it.
It says this in the Bible: ‘The person who picked up a lot did not have too much. And the person who picked up a small amount also had enough.’
But there was a man called Ananias among the group of believers. His wife was called Sapphira. Together they sold one of their fields.
Immediately, Sapphira fell down in front of Peter and she died. Then the young men came into the room. They saw that Sapphira was dead. So they carried her outside and they buried her body next to her husband.
The whole group of believers, and many other people, heard about what had happened to Ananias and Sapphira. They were all very afraid.
At that time, the apostles were doing many miracles that showed God's power among the people. All the believers often met together in the yard of the temple in a place called Solomon's porch.
The other people were afraid to meet with the group of believers. But people respected the believers very much.
More and more people became believers and they joined the group. So now many men and women believed in the Lord Jesus.
As a result, people carried their sick friends into the streets and put them on beds and mats. They hoped that Peter would pass that way and make their sick friends well again. They just wanted Peter's shadow to touch them.
Many people also came into Jerusalem from the small towns near the city. They brought their sick friends with them. Some of those sick people had bad spirits that gave them trouble. God caused all these sick people to become well again.
Many people liked what the apostles were doing. So the most important priest and his friends who belonged to the Sadducees' group were very jealous.
These important men took hold of the apostles and they put them in the city's prison.
But during the night, one of the Lord God's angels came and he opened the prison gates. He led the apostles out of the prison.
Ananias gave part of the money that he received to the apostles. But he kept part of the money for himself. Sapphira knew about what Ananias had done.
The angel said to them, ‘Go and stand in the yard of the temple. Tell the people everything about this new life that God gives.’
The apostles did what the angel told them to do. At dawn they went into the yard of the temple. They began to teach the people there. Then the most important priest and his friends arrived. They told the group of Jewish leaders to meet with them. All the most important people in Israel were in that group. Then they sent their police to the prison to bring the apostles to the meeting place.
But when the police arrived at the prison, they did not find the apostles there. So the police returned to the Jewish leaders and they told them the news.
They said, ‘We arrived at the prison. We saw that the soldiers had locked the gates. They were standing at the gates and they were watching carefully. But when we opened the gates of the prison, we did not find anyone there!’
The leader of the temple police and the leaders of the priests heard the news. They could not understand what had happened. They were afraid of what might happen next.
Then a man came to the leaders. He said to them, ‘Listen! Those men that you put in the prison are now standing in the yard of the temple. They are teaching the people there.’
So the leader of the police took his officers with him to find the apostles. They took hold of the apostles to take them back to the Jewish leaders. But the police officers did not hurt the apostles because they were afraid of the people. They thought that the people might throw stones at them to kill them.
The police brought the apostles into the meeting room. They made them stand in front of the group of Jewish leaders. The most important priest said to the apostles,
‘We told you that you must not teach people any more with the authority of Jesus. But now look at what you have done! Now people everywhere in Jerusalem have heard your teaching. You also want people to think that we are guilty for the death of Jesus.’
Peter and the other apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than obey people.
Peter said to Ananias, ‘Ananias, Satan wanted you to tell a lie and you have obeyed him. You have told a lie to the Holy Spirit. That is a bad thing to do! You sold your field, but you did not give us all the money. You kept part of it for yourselves.
You fixed Jesus to a cross so that he died. But then the God of our ancestors caused him to become alive again.
God raised Jesus and he put him in the most important place at his right side. Jesus is now the one who leads us and the one who saves us. He has made a way for the people of Israel to turn back to God. He wants us to stop doing wrong things. Then God will forgive us for our sins.
We tell people about what happened to Jesus. We ourselves saw these things. Now God has given his Holy Spirit to people who obey him. The Holy Spirit also shows that these things are true.’
The group of Jewish leaders heard what the apostles said to them. They were so angry that they wanted to kill the apostles.
But one man did not agree. He was called Gamaliel and he was a Pharisee, a teacher of the Law. All the people agreed that he was a good man. Gamaliel stood up in front of the group of Jewish leaders. He told the police to take the apostles out of the room.
When they had gone, Gamaliel spoke to the group of leaders: ‘Men of Israel! Think carefully about what you want to do to these men.
Remember what happened to Theudas a few years ago. That man told everyone, “I am a very important leader.” As a result, about 400 men joined his group. But then somebody killed him, and all his men went away. Nobody heard any more about them.
Later, Judas from Galilee appeared at the time when the Romans were making a list of everyone's names. Many people also came to help him fight against the Romans. But somebody killed him. His men also ran away and nothing more happened.
Now think about what is happening with these men. I tell you it would be better to leave them alone. Let them go free. If their message only comes from human ideas, all their work will fail.
But perhaps what they are doing really does come from God himself. If that is true, then you cannot stop them. You might even find that you are fighting against God!’
Before you sold the field, it belonged to you. And after you sold the field, the money was yours. You could choose what to do with it. But you chose to do a very bad thing. You did not only tell a lie to us men. You have told a lie to God.’
Some people say to me, “Master, Master!” But not all of them will come into the kingdom of heaven. Only the people who obey God, my Father in heaven, will come in. They do what he wants them to do.
Be very careful to keep your mind safe. The thoughts that you think make you the person that you are.
Then he said to all the people, ‘Be very careful! Do not want more things than you really need. A person's life is worth more than the things that he has, even if he is very rich.’
Abel believed God. So he offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain did. And because of Abel's faith, God accepted him as a righteous man. God said that he was pleased with Abel's gifts. Because Abel trusted God, we can still learn from his faith. Abel died long ago, but it is like he is still speaking to us.
On the first day of every week, each of you should put some of your money in a safe place. Think about how much God has given you. Then decide how much you can give to other people. If you do that, the gift will be ready when I come to you. We will not need to start doing it after I come.
Some people try to obey all the rules of God's Law. They think that they will become right with God if they do this very well. But those people are under a curse of God's punishment. It is written in the Bible: ‘God will curse anyone who does not continue to obey all the rules in his Law.’
Help me to love your rules. That is better for me than riches.
Turn my eyes away from useless things. Use your word to help me to live.
Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be completely good, then you must do this. You must sell everything that you have. Then give the money to poor people. If you do that, you will have many valuable things in heaven. Then come back and be my disciple.’
Warn those people who are rich with many things that belong to this world. Tell them not to think that they are more important than other people. They must not think that their money will keep them safe. They could easily lose all of it. Instead, they should trust God. He gives us many things, so that we can enjoy all of them.
Tell those rich people to do many good things to help other people. They should be very kind to other people and share their things with them.
In that way they will store valuable things for themselves in heaven. These things will be a strong help for them in the future. As a result, they will have true life with God.