Honour the Lord with Your Possessions
ICS Daily Devotions

Proverbs 3:9-10 (NKJV) Honour the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your increase. So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

As New Testament believers who have witnessed the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and are living in the period of grace, we should do our best to honour God and follow what Scripture teaches. When we choose to honour God with our possessions and all the increase in our profits, we will experience no lack but live in abundance.

Malachi 3:8-10 (NKJV) “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, ” If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

Disobedience in tithing often stems from a fear of lack, and the above Scripture reveals it is robbing God of the tithe. Tithing gives God His tenth. It says, “God, I recognise that you are my source of supply, and You will increase what I have.” It acknowledges God as our source. We pay tithes because they belong to God. Tithes differ from freewill offerings, where God has given us the freedom to decide how much and whom to give from the 90% that remains after tithing.

There is a temptation to divide our tithes and administer them ourselves so that they go where we want them to, but the storehouse in the above Scripture refers to the church—where you receive the Word, pastoral care, and the work of the ministry. God cares for His servants—the full-time workers in the church, and He wants them to be adequately provided for. The church will administer the funds, and leaders are entrusted with the responsibility of budgeting and disbursing the funds accordingly. When we give, we give unto the Lord in obedience to the Word. Therefore, we should not interfere with the leaders’ decisions because they are accountable to God. However, we can raise any concerns that we have at congregational meetings.

On the other hand, freewill offerings are prompted and led by the Holy Spirit. The Bible does not give us any specific prescriptions. Therefore, we must carefully check our hearts and attitudes against pride, disobedience to the Word, and rebellion.

Do you believe the Word that He will open the window of heaven to bless you? The Bible only mentions the opening of the windows of heaven twice: in the days of Noah when it rained for 40 days and 40 nights and water covered the face of the earth (Genesis 8:2), and upon the tither. Therefore, as you consistently seek to honour God with your possessions, you will be in a position of abundance, to the point of overflowing, having more than enough for your own needs and those of others.

Sermon Series: Christian Generosity