Topic: Wholehearted Giving [Thursday October 19, 2017]
Text: Deuteronomy 14:22-29
Key Verse: “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year” (Deuteronomy 14:22).
“If you want only net blessings, pay on the net. If you want gross blessings, by all means, pay on the gross,” Seve Steward wrote in his article: Yes, God’s Word Is Clear. “When we consider giving a tenth of our net [income] versus our gross [income], we are really asking, ‘How much can I give without giving too much? This kind of nonverbal response is rooted in selfish nature that resists God’s request that we help build his kingdom by giving to our local church.”
Our text reveals one of the Old Testament concepts that was sustained by the new covenant in Christ. And so, the misconceptions surrounding its veracity are totally unnecessary. Tithing required that the Israelites give 10 percent of the crops they grew and the livestock they raised, to the temple. The law also required multiple tithes which included one each for the Levites, the use of the temple and the feasts, and the poor of the land. Our text also points to a set of categories which must needs be affected by our piety: the Levites (full or part-time ministers in the house of the Lord); the strangers (within and without the Church); as well as the destitute.
These all make up the family of God, and should be treated as such. The destination of our tithe, it must be noted, is clearly elucidated in our text to be where “…the Lord thy God shall choose to set His name there”. In our dispensation, the local Church where we receive spiritual nourishment should be deemed appropriate to receive the tithe.
Tithes and offerings should be given with pure motives and reverent attitude of worship to the Lord for His innumerable mercies. You must make up your mind to obey God always. Do not give reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves and cherishes a cheerful giver. As you do so, you relive Christ’s sacrificial life here on earth till He comes.
Thought for the day: Gross Kingdom investments never yield net dividends.
Bible Reading in one Year: 2 Kings 16-17
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
