Every time we bring the offering or contributions to the altar we sing "We give Thee but Thine own, whate'er the gift may be. All that we have is Thine alone -- a trust, O'Lord, from Thee!" I learned to sing this offering verse when I was a new believer
(I was twenty-eight years old). I had really not given anything to God before that except for prayer requests for good things and protection. Until I came into a truly dynamic two way dialogue with God, until I began to hear what God said and did, I did not learn why and how to give to God. In a way, I had the "Pilgrims' experience".
The Pilgrims gave up their house and home, nation and country because of their faith in and service to God. In their first winter in America almost half of them died of illnesses. But they kept going in faith in the new world thanking God, for "All that we have is Thine (God's) alone -- a trust, O'Lord, from Thee!" They received abundantly next fall.
