BIBLE PASSAGE:
For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them,
I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices,
but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God
and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you,
that it may go well with you.
(Jeremiah 7:22-23)
MEDITATION:
What does obedience mean in the lives of Christians?
Jesus says it shows that we love Him.
“If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15)
God reminds us that we will be rewarded when we obey His commands.
“If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands,
I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its
crops and the trees their fruit.” (Leviticus 26:3-4)
Our obedience shows we love the Lord,
and we can find comfort in knowing that He knows us.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me”
(John 10:14)
However, we are told that failure to ‘do the will of the Father’ will cost us eternity.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
(Matthew 7:21)
Instead of hearing the Lord say, “Well done faithful servant”,
disobedience will cause many to hear Him say, “I never knew you”.
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
(Matthew 7:23)
We all stumble at times, and thankfully we can receive the Lord’s
forgiveness when we show we have a repentant heart and ‘return to Him’.
However, when we have a lifestyle of disobedience,
there is a strong possibility that He doesn’t ‘know’ us.
We can’t live in sin and expect to have a relationship with the Lord.
As believers, we should abstain from the things He tells us to avoid,
and participate in the things He commands us to do.
Some seem to view His commands as a kind of smorgasbord
where we can choose the ones we want to obey and ignore the others.
However, the Lord wants our total (not partial) commitment.
One of the commands He has given, provides us with
the opportunity to prove our faith, love, and trust in Him.
We can choose to selflessly obey, or to selfishly disobey Him.
His command is,
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
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 there will not be room
enough to store it. (Malachi 3:10)
His command is to tithe,
but look at the magnitude of His rewards for our obedience.
Failure to obey this command not only indicates
a lack of trust in His providential care, but it is stealing from God.
It not only affects our relationship with Him,
but can negatively impact an entire nation.
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask,
‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under
a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. (Malachi 3:8-9)
Tithing can be a ‘touchy’ topic with some people, but it shouldn’t be
for those who have surrendered their life to the Lord (Christians).
It is not a suggestion, but a command from God for those He ‘knows’.
And the rewards we receive for obedience, remind us of the truth in His words.
When the Lord convicted my wife and me to tithe, we initially
tithed on our net income (since that was our ‘bring home’ pay).
Later He convicted us to tithe on our gross income and we realized
we were expressing a greater trust in Him to provide for our needs.
Then, something interesting happened – He convicted us
to tithe on more than our gross income.
And when we did, we didn’t ‘give’ with expectations to ‘get’,
but out of obedience to what we felt He wanted us to do.
After a few years of giving more than a tithe, we were overwhelmed
when we received three salary increases in only ten months (11%, 15%, 10%).
That was a compounded increase of over 40%, and was a personal experience
of what we have heard over the years, “We can’t out-give God”.
It also increased our ‘joy’ of giving to the Lord; it was not just an act of obedience.
It would take too long to share all the ‘non-financial’ ways He has blessed us
(jobs, children, grandchildren, food, clothing, shelter, talents, spiritual gifts, etc.).
Looking back over the years, if we had decided to keep His tithe,
we could have had some of the same luxuries as others,
but we feel He has guided us toward investing in eternity,
through obedience to His command to tithe.
Although we are on a fixed income, we recently decided to increase our tithe.
Shortly afterward, we were blindsided with two huge medical costs.
My endocrinologist decided it was time to change my diabetes medicine
which would mean an ‘out of pocket’ expense of around $6,000.00 annually.
A few days later, we were told that a pill would be added to my wife’s
treatment for cancer (which returned after being dormant for around 23 years).
The ‘out of pocket’ cost for this pill would be $100,000.00 a year.
Obviously we could not afford these new medicines.
I shared this information with the Sunday School class I have been
teaching for years and they joined us in praying for God’s help.
One member of the class said that a year from now we would look back
and remember how God provided for our needs (but it was far less than a year).
Two days later, after reviewing my blood work, my endocrinologist chose a
different medicine, and instead of $6,000.00 a year, my cost would be $0.00!!
The same week, we were told that the pill for my wife would be reduced to
$24,000.00 and will probably be less than $10,000.00 (possibly as low as $0.00).
We are still awaiting the final costs, but are optimistic that the Lord will provide.
Not only were we reminded of His presence, but since I shared our situation with
the class, they were also witnesses of the goodness of God in this circumstance.
ACTION:
I have to be honest and admit that before we realized we were willfully being
disobedient to the God, whenever I heard testimonies on tithing I was a little
skeptical and never expected to have a testimony of my own to share.
I will also admit that I did not experience ‘joy’ at first, but was ‘mechanically’
obeying His command (almost with a ‘wait and see’ attitude), but joy came
much faster than I could have ever imagined.
If you have been obeying God’s command to tithe, then you have a testimony
as well, but if you have not obeyed His command, then why not?
What is causing you to disobey the Lord when so much is at stake?
Wouldn’t you like for Him to ‘know’ you better,
and wouldn’t you like to be able to start enjoying His blessings?
Satan will try to convince you that God has not convicted you
to obey His command to tithe; but you know it is one of His commands
and if you love Him, then you have already been convicted to obey.
When we commit our lives to the Lord, it means we agree to obey
all of His commands, and not to disobey or ignore any of them.
Refusing to obey His command to tithe can usually be attributed to selfishness
and a lack of trust in the God who loves us and has promised to take care of us.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me for disobeying Your command to bring
You my tithe. I realize that I have allowed selfishness to cause me to
ignore Your command. Help me to win this battle with Satan so that I
can increase my relationship with You and enjoy Your blessings in my
life. I know Your Word is true, and I want to know that You know me.
This day I commit to striving more to obey all of Your commands and
not just the one which are easy for me, or the ones I like. Thank You for
Your promises to those who show their love for You through obedience
to Your commands.”
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