"Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." - Proverbs 3:9-10
So add today's verses to the list. Genesis 14, Malachi 3, Matthew 23, Hebrews 7, and today's verses from Proverbs 3:9-10. Through all of these, God speaks plainly of Biblical tithing, which is the promise of God to bless those who bring the "firstfruits" of our labor, the first 10%, to the LORD so as to honor, exalt, and share him with the world.
My own simple testimony is this: since I was a junior in High School, when God moved me to read the Bible from cover to cover for the first time, I have seen that tithing "works."
I know that giving 10% of income, as a starting point for giving to God's work, seems like a lot, but I've found that God is always true to his promise. In sum, you can't outgive God!
And ya know, there's so much more that I could say with conviction about this tithing thing, about giving the first 10% of your income to the work of the LORD, but it's on my heart just to stop today. And here's why.
You're either going to believe what is God's promise, not mine, or you're not going to believe the promise.
And upon, hopefully, believing, you're either going to act on the promise and (continue to) bring the tithe or not.
It's your choice.
Christ's saving work has set you free (John 8:33) from being a slave to thinking like the world thinks and set you free to choose and to be a servant of thinking and acting like God counsels and models.
I'm not trying to make anybody feel guilty. That's not what Day of Praise is all about.
I'm just trying to tell you that God wants you to taste (Psalm 34) some blessings that only God has to offer.
So in a simple prayer, I pray you'll (continue to) give tithing a try, giving 10% both to God and also to the spread of his word.
You won't regret it.
It is God who promises you won't.
"Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." - Proverbs 3:9-10
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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