Haha... The above brings me to the topic on tithing.
Leviticus 27:30 "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord."
God owns everything. God keeps a portion sacred for himself, 10% - that's the sovereignty of God in our lives, and we keep 90%. Many of the principles regarding sacrifices & tithes were intended to encourage inward attitudes as well as outward actions. If a person gives grudgingly, he shows that he has a stingy heart. If that's the case, He wouldnt want our tithe coz God wants us to be cheerful givers -
2Corin 9:7 "Each man should give what he has DECIDED in his HEART to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion for GOd loves a cheerful giver."
So children, do not rob God of this 10% (tithe - tenth) as Malachi 3:8 talks about coming under a financial curse if we do (egs holes in your pocket) - "Will a man rob GOd? Yet u rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob u?' 'In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse-the whole nation of you-because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse (local church) that there may be food in my house (church). Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, & the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,' says the Lord Almighty. Then all the nations will call you blessed for yours will be a delightful land,' says the Lord Almighty.
God is working at our attitude - when we tithe, what is our motivation? In the old testament, the people of God were commanded by law to pay. In the new testament, the people were compelled by love to give. What's yours? Dont tip God. Give God purposely for everything that he has done for you. We are under the new testament.
Secondly, if you look at the above scripture- 'bring the tithe into the storehouse' - it means to give our tithe to our local church who provides spiritual covering/protection for us.
1Tim 5:17-18 "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching & teaching. For the scripture say, 'Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,' and 'The worker deserves his wages.'
Full time church leaders are sometimes taken for granted - their needs are not adequately provided for. Personally, I feel we should often ask ourselves if they have received enough financial support to allow them to live without worry & to provide for their families. The reason we should honour the office of the pastor and honour the man who stands in that office is that those who do will prosper in life! It's ironical that some church goers will not hesitate to ask for pay increases and promotions for themselves when they deprive their own pastors from increments and promotions!
Notice that financial curse will come upon a person if he does not tithe. That's the principle of sowing and reaping. When your dad 1st started his biz, he did not have enough income and had to depend on our savings. Once, he decided to skip tithing for that month so that he could use the money on the family. When he did that, he encountered car problems which needed fixing n that amounted to quite a bit of money, or sth would go wrong n we needed to spend. In the end, God spoke to him about the conseq of not tithing - you will have holes in the pocket if you do not tithe.
A few years back, Ps Khong preached on tithing and the law of sowing & reaping. Many from our congregation including our friends & myself, decided to pay back what we owed God in the past when we did not tithe. As a result, there were many who were blessed beyond their expectations - great favours with clients resulting in more biz, job promotions, good health, restoration of family ties, etc.
2Corin 9:6 " Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.."
It pays to obey God's unchanging Word. Do it and you will forever be protected from the clutches of the spirit of poverty or the scarcity mentality. When giving, do it cheerfully and keep your motives n attitudes right. As you do, you'll be blessed because Abraham's blessing belongs to you!
Love, Mum