The God of Your Money
Scripture:
“You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. 23 Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored—and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the Lord your God...Then the Lord your God will bless you in all your work.
Observations:
As part of Israel's worship they were required to give God a tithe (10%) of their income on a regular basis. Why? Because it not only supported the priests who facilitated worship in the Temple but it was also a very personal part of each family's worship that taught them to fear the Lord and ensured His blessing on their lives. The fact that they gave God the first and best part of what they had forced them to acknowledge that He was their source and that true blessing monitarily or otherwise was the result of living in relationship with God.
Application:
Today, God requires the same standard of giving from us. We will never experience His blessing in our lives apart from our acknowledgement of the fact that He is our source. As we give it teaches us to recognize His rightful place in our lives. Apart from tithing we cannot and should not expect to live in right relationship with Him or be blessed in the way He intends. The giving of our tithe (10%) is but a small reflection of the surrendered state of our hearts to God. As Jesus said, "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." (Matthew 6:21). The real question is, how blessed do you want to be? If your answer is fully, then it all begins with a right relationship with Christ that recognizes His rightful place over all of it.
Prayer:
Father, forgive us for allowing ourselves to think for a moment that we are self-sufficient or that we are more dependent on our money than we are on you. You are our source and the treasure of our hearts. May our lives reflect it today. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
“You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. 23 Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored—and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the Lord your God...Then the Lord your God will bless you in all your work.
Observations:
As part of Israel's worship they were required to give God a tithe (10%) of their income on a regular basis. Why? Because it not only supported the priests who facilitated worship in the Temple but it was also a very personal part of each family's worship that taught them to fear the Lord and ensured His blessing on their lives. The fact that they gave God the first and best part of what they had forced them to acknowledge that He was their source and that true blessing monitarily or otherwise was the result of living in relationship with God.
Application:
Today, God requires the same standard of giving from us. We will never experience His blessing in our lives apart from our acknowledgement of the fact that He is our source. As we give it teaches us to recognize His rightful place in our lives. Apart from tithing we cannot and should not expect to live in right relationship with Him or be blessed in the way He intends. The giving of our tithe (10%) is but a small reflection of the surrendered state of our hearts to God. As Jesus said, "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." (Matthew 6:21). The real question is, how blessed do you want to be? If your answer is fully, then it all begins with a right relationship with Christ that recognizes His rightful place over all of it.
Prayer:
Father, forgive us for allowing ourselves to think for a moment that we are self-sufficient or that we are more dependent on our money than we are on you. You are our source and the treasure of our hearts. May our lives reflect it today. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
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