February 2, 2012

Today’s Text:  Read Genesis 28:22, Malachi 3:10, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

Today’s Key Thought:  When we obey God with our giving by tithing, we express our willingness to trust God to meet our needs.

God created us, redeemed us, owns us, and provides for us.  Do you believe that?  I hope you have seen this to be true from God’s Word this week as well as in your own life.   Yesterday we said that a right response to God is a response of serving Him with our whole lives.  Today we are going to be specific about how we respond to God in obedience through our giving, specifically through tithing.

The word tithe means tenth.  It was practiced by God’s people before God gave the Judaic law (Genesis 28:22), was established during the law (Malachi 3:10), and proportional giving was practiced in the early church (1 Corithians 16:1-2-  “as” or “according to” or “proportionally to”).
Dr. James Sewell in his paper “A Biblical Basis for Storehouse Tithing” says this about 1 Corinthians 16:  “Interesting enough Paul’s request for an offering was sent to the churches (I Corinthians 16:1), not individuals. A New Testament principle on giving may be found here stating that Christians should give through their local church. …The Bible never teaches the individual is to send his/her tithes and offerings to the storehouse. Rather he/she is to bring them. This indicates tithes and offerings are to be given to a local storehouse and in the New Testament this is the local church.”

Tithing is biblical giving 101.  It’s basic to Christian faith and practice.  I believe that God commanded this kind of habitual, spiritual, and financial giving because He knows that “where our treasure is, there will our heart be also.”  I also believe that it is an issue of trust in God.  Do we trust in the created (our money/stuff) or in God?  Obeying God through our proportional, regular giving tells God that we trust Him enough to do what He says.

Application:

Are you practically trusting God in your life by being obedient to Him in your giving the tithe?  Even if you are, are you doing it purely out of habit or out of worship?