Tithing: September 28, 2010

Today's Word for Tuesday September 28, 2010

TITHING

DEFINITION

The tenth part of goods; to give or pay tithes on such as income.


SCRIPTURE

"You shall tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year." Deuteronomy 14:22.

A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is Holy to the Lord. Leviticus 27:30.


"Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will over flow with new wine." Proverbs 3:9-10

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

Tithing has special significance for those who love the Lord, their God. It is a way of demonstrating that we put God first in our lives. Tithing is an important part of serving and honoring the Lord.

The Israelites were instructed by God through Moses to give God the first and best portions of their harvest and the best of their flocks to the Lord. It was a reminder to them that everything they had belonged to God.

When we do not tithe we are withholding what rightfully belongs to God. In Malachi 3:8, God speaking through Malachi says, "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me. But you ask 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings." Malachi had been sent to the Jews in Jerusalem to urge them to return to God. God goes on to tell them that when they rob God they are robbing themselves of God's blessing.

In Malachi 3:10, God tells them to bring their tithes and "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."

Since we were children our parents taught us the importance of tithing. Tithing is the giving of the first tenth of all the income one receives before he spends it on anything else. Ken remembers the cup and/or glass that sat on a table for us to put even our few pennies from our allowance in each week. My [Dottie's] mother taught her three girls early on that if we received 10 pennies we should give the Lord the shiniest one signifying that we were giving our best to the Lord. It was a different day then, our allowance was in pennies. This training helped us realize the importance of tithing as we got older.

If a tenth seems a lot, then remember two very important things. First, all we have belongs to God. Secondly, we can not out give God. We personally have found out that the more we give the more God blesses us. We have always tithed and we are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has blessed us so abundantly because we tithe.

We challenge you to tithe if you do not now. We could give you hundreds of examples of how God has blessed others just as he has blessed us. We learned to tithe when it really hurt. We learned to give a tithe even when it was difficult to pay the bills and then we had to tighten the budget to make ends meet. But every time when we needed help or came to a crises God provided far and beyond our need.

LEARNING

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 3:14

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

PRAYER

Teach me today to tithe on all that You have blest me with. Thank You, dear Lord for providing for me and my family in such a marvelous way. We honor You and thank You for being our God, our Lord and our Savior.