Our circumstances must never be allowed to dictate or influence our obedience to the revealed Will of God. Daniel’s three friends in the burning fiery furnace declared they would not compromise their stand for God – even if He did not deliver them. That is faith. (Dan 3:16-18).
The Bible speaks more about money than any other topic. Jesus said faithfulness in financial matters indicated whether we could be trusted with spiritual riches. “If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” Luke 16:11
Biblically, Old Testament saints tithed before the Law was given to Moses. (e.g. Abraham – Gen. 14:20). The Law of tithing was written down and people were instructed to tithe properly, i.e. one-tenth of their income. This was God’s method of caring for His temple and priests, in particular. Each Israelite gave in proportion to his personal blessing and it worked well, except when people were disobedient. In the New Testament, believers were expected to tithe in proportion to their blessing too – 1 Cor. 16:2. In fact, I think if believers gave 10% under the law, we should be willing to give much more under grace!
Let Jesus have the last word: “How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things.” Matt 23:23 |
