A belated offering is a worthy present that is offered a little too late. A perfect example of this is found in Mark 16:1:
“And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.”
These women had real love for Jesus. They followed Him everywhere He went as part of His disciples, and they catered to His needs. They were there at His crucifixion and even stayed behind to see where He was buried (Luke 23:55-56). After observing His burial place, they combined resources to invest in preparing sweet spices for the purpose of anointing His body in the grave. Sadly enough, it turned out to be a belated offering: a wasted effort that didn’t serve the intended purpose and a colossal disappointment. Indeed, it was the news of the resurrected Lord that served as their consolation. As children of God, we must avoid coming late to the presence of God or delaying our praise, worship and service to God beyond the appointed time; neither should we offer our vows, first fruits, tithes or special offerings belatedly.

Many years ago, at the inception of the Redemption Camp building project, I told one of my sons of the need to urgently carry out an assignment that God would want Him to handle. He responded that He would go and pray about it over the weekend and then feed me back. As soon as he walked out of my office, God brought someone else who accepted the responsibility and immediately went to work, finishing the assignment in record time. My son came in early the following week to announce his readiness to do the work. He was dazed when I told him that the project had been completed by someone else, and he saw the evidence of this. He learnt his lesson that day and has never allowed such opportunities slip through his hands since then.  I pray that you and your offerings will be acceptable to God in Jesus’ Name. The terrible thing about a belated offering is that it is always an opportunity lost that may never be regained. Esau carelessly lost the opportunity of a lifetime, and although he later sought it carefully with tears, it was impossible to reverse the situation. Hebrews 12:17 says,
“For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”
Please don’t let this be your story. God bless you. 
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.