How do the “just live by faith”
With respect to Tithing…?
Tithing or the Tithe
Is represented by a portion…
Or a percentage…
Or a fraction…
Of what a person possesses
It is understood, primarily
In relation to money
Though could include
Crops and food stuff
Biblically the idea behind
Tithing, I want to suggest,
Can be reduced to a
Principle of TRUST
And FAITH in God
As many will know
My background is Mathematics
Since I started as a School Teacher
Before I became a Minister
The tithe is mentioned
Throughout the Bible
Old Testament and New
People associate it with the Law
Though the tithe is spoken about
In Genesis before the Law
Making it a biblical principle
Rather than a “Thou shalt…”
Something that you MUST do
And this is where the problem
Comes in for many people…
IF the TITHE is NOT a Law
Then I DO NOT HAVE TO do it
If it is an optional extra
Then I can get away with
Giving what I WANT to GIVE…
Which usually means…
As LITTLE as possible
Hopefully, you are following
My reasoning and guessing
“This shouldn’t be so…”
When I say that the tithe
Is a “biblical principle”
It means to me that this
Is something that we SHOULD do
“Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed.” “
(Genesis 12:1 – 3)
(Abram became Abraham when he
Trusted God by faith and God
Renamed him to reflect this)
“Then Melchizedek king of Salem
brought out bread and wine;
he was the priest of God Most High.
And he blessed him and said:
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies
into your hand.”
And he gave him a tithe of all.”
(Genesis 14:18 – 20)
Abraham was BLESSED by God
And in recognition of this
Abram (Abraham) gave a TITHE
To God of all that he had
Please note that God DID NOT
Demand it…
But Abraham out of his
Relationship with God
Chose to GIVE it
“God HAS blessed me…
Therefore I will GIVE to Him”
How much shall I GIVE to God?
A tithe, a tenth, 10 percent…
WHY?
Now, for me, this is the FAITH bit…
And this is why I made reference
To my interest in Mathematics
Everybody knows that if you
Have 100 then you can purchase
MORE than if you only have 90
If you have read this far
You may MISS what I just said
So I will say it again…
If you have 100 you CAN
Purchase MORE than if you
ONLY have 90
That is true Mathematically
Business knows that
Accountants will tell you that
That is the truth…
However and indeed
I will say…HOWEVER…
IF you GIVE God the TEN (10)
The tithe…
10 percent…
And keep the 90 for yourself…
God will MAKE the 90
That you KEEP go further
Than the 100 you started with
And it requires FAITH…
To see that in ACTION…
FAITH in God…
FAITH in Jesus…
The wonderful truth is that
God is NOT trying to ROB us
But He is trying to BLESS us
By getting us to put our TRUST
In Him…
All of this that I have been
Trying to explain…
Comes from a “heart” attitude
Sadly, many today still live
Under Law eventhough Jesus
Has set us FREE by Grace
When we realise what God
Has done for us through
The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross
Just as Abrahm did back in
Genesis 12 & 14
We will WANT to GIVE Him
At LEAST a tithe of what we have
Which is where the teaching of Paul
Comes in his letter to the Corinthians
“But this I say:
He who sows sparingly
will also reap sparingly,
and he who sows bountifully
will also reap bountifully.
So let each one give
as he purposes in his heart,
not grudgingly or of necessity;
for God loves a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make
all grace abound toward you,
that you, always having all
sufficiency in all things,
may have an abundance
for every good work…
Now may He who supplies
seed to the sower,
and bread for food,
supply and multiply the seed
you have sown and increase
the fruits of your righteousness”
(2 Corinthians 9:6 – 8, 10)
God will MULTIPLY and
INCREASE because we GIVE
And we do not give what
We can get away with (sparingly)
But out of the abundance
Of our hearts (bountifully)
CHEERFULLY…
So as I said earlier in today’s
Devotional, this is my suggestion
Of what the meaning of the tithe is
It is something we DO by FAITH
Because we TRUST God
In my time in ministry
Many people have said that
They cannot afford to tithe…
My response is, in part,
That I cannot afford NOT to tithe
And tithing is ONLY the beginning
The absolute minimum
Of what I give back to God
I do NOT give to God so that
He will BLESS me
But rather I give to God
In response to what He
Has already given me
In that He has BLESSED me
In and through His Son
Jesus Christ
And finally, another way
You can look at this…
We say that we have given
Him everything…
He is our Saviour…
And our Lord…
Our Master and King…
Prove it…
By tithing…
At LEAST…
And MORE out of the abundance
Of your heart…