Tithe

Verse passage: Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” – NIV

Have you ever wanted to be blessed by God? Of course you have. But have you actually stopped what your doing and see the blessings that your life is filled with? We generally view a blessing from God in the form of financial blessing. We seldom stop to see the vast amount of blessings He has already poured out to us. 

He has rescued us from darkness. We have healing and health. We have breath. And so on and on. We have thousands of blessings that are all around us and yet we are still waiting to be blessed. 

Something that has caught my attention is there is one blessing that constantly stands out in the Bible and that is of course a financial blessing. This blessing is always being said throughout the Bible. But, it is a blessing that has a requirement. Proverbs tells us to honor God with our money by giving to Him the first fruits which is the first ten precent of our money. It is in this action of giving honor and giving back to God that He in return blesses you with an out pouring of financial blessing. Now, I’m sure some would think “Why tithe if I’m just going to get my money back?” But this could only be said by someone who doesn’t truly see what this passage is about.

Proverbs tell us that when we decide to willing honor God and give Him a potion of our money. God will in return reward us by blessing us with even more money. God is the safest and ultimate being to put your money in. You are guaranteed a good return over and over and over again. When we give our first to Him we state a few different things. 

1. God here is my first: Take it. It’s yours. You have given me this money and I am giving back what is rightfully yours. 
2. God I trust you: You and I both know I have bills that need to be paid and this money would sure help me with that. But I trust in You and I am giving you my money because it belongs to you. I will do without it. 
3. God I honor you: I willing give a portion of my money to you first because you are first in my life.  

In Deuteronomy 26 we see that there is a second piece to this blessing. Giving with a thankful attitude. God did not just want people to throw money into the offering plate simply for a bigger return. He wanted it to be genuine. He wants people to want to put the money in and do so with a cheerful heart. He wanted the heart of the people. Our hearts are so attached to money to the point that we are on a dangerous playing field. God didn’t want that. He knew that people would start to think differently about money when they willing gave a portion back to Him. He knew that we would break the bondage that money has around us if we were to willing give it away to Him. Tithing has never been about the money. Tithing has always been about the heart and money is just in the middle of it. 

Now the next part is a personal thing. 

Don’t be afraid to call forth the blessing. The Bible has already stated that if we give a portion of our money back to God. He will bless us. When you tithe don’t be afraid to call forth the blessing that has been promised. When you tithe, pray “Lord, here is my first fruit. Here is the ten precent that I bring to You to honor You. I have not kept this portion for myself. I realize that it is Yours to have. I have kept Your command. I now call forth the blessings You have promised me.” 

Now I’m sure that many would be nervous to speak like this to God. But do you think God would be offended by your asking for your blessing? I mean this was God’s idea in the first place. It was Him who said to tithe your first fruit and give with a cheerful heart. And if done He will pour out blessings on your life. Asking God to bless you after you have done what He wanted done is not going to offend Him. He would be delighted to bless you. 

Don’t shy away. Tithe gladly. Tithe with boldness. Give Him the first ten precent of your income and one hundred precent of your heart. 

God bless! 

Copyright © 2018 by Jacob D. Olinger