Acts 17 : 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
God owns everything - the silver and gold, every animal of the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills . He does not need our offerings. We were taught by Jesus to give so that it shall be given to us. The reason why God urges us to give, is so that we would receive from Him , sometimes through a human channel.
In 1 Kings 17 : 8 - 15, Elijah was told by God to go to Zarephath where a widow would feed him. There was a widow alright, but she had only a handful of flour in a jar, and a little oil in a jug to use for a last meal for her son and herself, after which, she expected to hunger to death. Elijah, the man of God appeared not moved by her disheartening situation and asked her to feed him first.
1 Kings 17 : 10 - 14 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
“As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’ ”
Why Elijah first?
When we give to God or to anyone that represents Him, we open a channel of blessing and multiplication . Jesus said when we give we shall receive a good measure pressed down, and shaken together. Thus, we shall receive much more than we gave. When the widow obliged to Elijah's request, we read in 1 Kings 17 : 15 - 16 that She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.
You can never out give God, so take care of His, and He'll take care of yours.
WHAT IS NEXT?
