Thank God for TITHING!

I love the idea and the concept of tithing! And if you think I am crazy, let’s not forget the words of our Lord Himself … “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. God loves a cheerful giver, and a cheerful giver loves to give to God.

In today’s age of “convenience” tithing is a practice that Christians are categorizing as an option, not a mandate. That’s due to some current teachings that tithing is no longer applicable in today’s context. I am not here today to debate on this but let me tell you why I enjoy tithing.

1. Keeps me in perspective!
Human beings have the natural tendency to want to “play God”. The convenient term to use is “LEADERSHIP”. Our skills, our achievements, our track records, all these tell us we must be doing something right therefore we feel qualified to make judgment. Nothing wrong with that but when we allow our success to boost our egos and get us feeling like we are gods, then what’s right becomes wrong, and what’s good becomes bad. Given a little power and money and status, the man acts like he is a god.

The beauty of tithing is this … “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD (Lev 27:30). The tithe belongs to God! It’s not mine. It’s not mine to keep. It’s not mine to use. It’s not mine to decide where it goes except where God has designated it. Since the tithe is not mine and is “holy unto God” then I simply need to obey God and submit to God. There are Christians who decide that the tithe is no longer relevant and therefore they feel they have the right to decide what to do with it giving them the impression they that actually own the tithe. Thus “playing God”. Tithing keeps me in perspective.

2. Honoring God.
Tithing went way back before the Jews. Abraham practiced tithing as a form of honoring God and it was then practiced in the Jewish form of worship and carried through the New Testament churches till today. You honor God by being obedient. Withholding the tithe, in God’s own words … "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings (Mal. 3:8). You don’t steal from the person you honor.

All of us have the ability to earn a decent income. Whether you are a farmer, or an accountant, a businessman or a general worker, the ability to make a decent livelihood comes from God. At the end of the week or month, our hard work and time invested daily comes back to us in the form of a paycheck. We earn it and although God is the One who actually owns all things, He allows us to use our gifting and stewardship to do with our paycheck anyway we want. BUT the 10 percent we call tithes, that is being designated. It belongs to God. We don’t rob from the One who provides us the resource to harvest. In honoring God, we give it back. That keeps me in perspective. We all have the temptations to want to “play God”. Tithing keeps us on the right tract. There is only but One God!

Drive safe and never forget all good things comes from God above.For all you Vineyardians overseas who's reading this, Happy Chinese New Year!