This past Sunday our pastor spoke on a very unpopular subject: Tithes. For months now I have been "high five-ing" myself for following Gods' plan as each weeks sermon was a confirmation that I was doing the right thing. I've not been very humble and have had very little humility as I've been proud to be a "born again" Christian if you will. Wooo- hooo look at me go, look at me go! Then this past Sunday I slammed face first into the wall of reality. I am robbing God who has given everything to me.
Malachi 3:6-12
"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?' 8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.
I'm not saying my wife and I don't give money to the church every Sunday for we most certainly do. However, we haven't been giving the money to God and most certainly not in the amount he has clearly specified. It should be ten percent off the top. That means the first ten percent and that means gross. That is Gods part. That means if you give the ten percent you are tithing. If you do not give the ten percent you ARE NOT tithing. God has challenged us to test him in this. If you tithe as God has specified you will be blessed. My wife and I live paycheck to paycheck just like everyone else. Ten percent of our salary is a big chunk of money. To tithe is a huge leap of faith. How do we squeeze blood from a turnip?? The answer: We don't, that's Gods part in all this. It is He that makes the impossible possible and it is us that must simply have faith. I don't know any way to make this happen other than to pray and just do it. The rest is in Gods hands.
I also learned that a little more than 97 percent of Christians don't Tithe by definition. There are so many of us who's money and finances are cursed. I'm getting out from under that curse. Part of me says "boy this is gonna hurt". However, I also thought being a Christian and walking with Christ was going to be a burden and it is anything but. I have faith that the Lord will meet my every need. My family will thrive under the love of God.
I have to look at it this way. It's all Gods' anyway. I'm not giving him ten percent. He's giving me ninety percent and He gave his only son to pay for my sins. I don't want to rob from God who has given me so much any longer.
1 comment:
Amazingly God does always provide for our every need. When you first start tithing it does take a huge leap of faith but God won't let you down. Like you said, it is all his anyway. We tithe and always manage to make ends meet even though it sometimes seems they won't...you have just got to trust him:)
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