Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it (Mal. 3:10).
Including the tithe, or tenth, the ancient Israelites gave offerings amounting, some say, to at least one fourth of their income. Can the Christian believer in this age of grace do less? Centuries before the Jewish economy, Abraham paid tithes to the priest of the Most High God, and Jacob said to God on the night of his dream, "I will surely give the tenth unto thee" (Gen. 28:22). Our Lord said to some of the religious leaders of His day who were careful in tithing but careless in other things, "These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Matt. 23:23).
Seriously, friends, we cannot expect heaven to be opened in blessing unless we pay our dues unto God and His cause.
A widow taught her boys to lay aside for the Lord's work 10 cents of each dollar they earned. Charley became restless and went to the Far West of those days and fell into sin. Still the habit of tithing was so strong that he continued to return unto God His own. One day as he held a shining 10-cent piece before him, he exclaimed: "this is all foolishness. I'll go and buy a drink with this dime and end this nonsense forever." He rushed to the bar, threw the coin on the counter, and ordered a drink. But before it reached him, his silver seemed to turn into an accusing spirit that cried, "You are using God's money to buy a curse." He picked up the dime, rushed out the door and far into the country, threw himself upon the ground, and pleaded for mercy. After hours of conflict he arose a child of the King. The tithe had led him to his Redeemer.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them" (Ps. 89:11).
Including the tithe, or tenth, the ancient Israelites gave offerings amounting, some say, to at least one fourth of their income. Can the Christian believer in this age of grace do less? Centuries before the Jewish economy, Abraham paid tithes to the priest of the Most High God, and Jacob said to God on the night of his dream, "I will surely give the tenth unto thee" (Gen. 28:22). Our Lord said to some of the religious leaders of His day who were careful in tithing but careless in other things, "These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Matt. 23:23).
Seriously, friends, we cannot expect heaven to be opened in blessing unless we pay our dues unto God and His cause.
A widow taught her boys to lay aside for the Lord's work 10 cents of each dollar they earned. Charley became restless and went to the Far West of those days and fell into sin. Still the habit of tithing was so strong that he continued to return unto God His own. One day as he held a shining 10-cent piece before him, he exclaimed: "this is all foolishness. I'll go and buy a drink with this dime and end this nonsense forever." He rushed to the bar, threw the coin on the counter, and ordered a drink. But before it reached him, his silver seemed to turn into an accusing spirit that cried, "You are using God's money to buy a curse." He picked up the dime, rushed out the door and far into the country, threw himself upon the ground, and pleaded for mercy. After hours of conflict he arose a child of the King. The tithe had led him to his Redeemer.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them" (Ps. 89:11).
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