Malachi 3:9,10 “You are under a curse – the whole nation of you – because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, 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.”
A flagging rural church appointed their new treasurer, who was the manager of a grain elevator. He agreed to serve on two conditions: he wouldn’t submit any report until the end of the first year, and there would be no questions asked for that period. When he presented his report at the end of the first year, it blew everyone away. He’d paid off the church debt of $150,000. He’d renovated the meeting hall. He’d renewed overseas support to several missionaries, and there was even a healthy surplus in the bank. The congregation demanded to know how he’d done it. He quietly replied: “All you farmers bring your grain to my elevator. I simply withheld 10% and gave it to the church. You never missed it.”
Actually under the New Covenant, we’re not under obligation to tithe, thank God! But grace is never less than law. The point of the tithe is that its costs us. For some, 10% is nothing, for others it’s crippling. The cross is the standard for giving in the Bible. Thank God again that Jesus didn’t tithe his blood! So is there a cross in your economic life? And remember, “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Mark Batterson’s got the right approach: “One of the turning points of my life came the day I stopped setting income goals and started setting giving goals. It was a paradigm shift. I finally came to terms with the fact that making money is the way you make a living and giving it away is the way you make a life.”
Lord, I choose to be a cheerful generous giver in response to your lavish generosity towards me. Amen!
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