Honouring God with Tithing
ICS Daily Devotions
Genesis 14:20-23 (NKJV) And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all. Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’
Some people think that because tithing belongs to the Mosaic covenant, it is obsolete today. In fact, tithing is an act of worship to God who has called us and blessed us. Therefore, tithing is a financial principle that was established before the law was given.
In the above passage, Abraham had just returned from defeating the kings in battle. He refused the wealth of Sodom (the world) when He was tempted by the King of Sodom to take the goods for himself. Abraham forsook all to obey God and he refused to turn back in times of trial. He wanted to remember that it was God who had prospered him and not the King of Sodom or the world. He didn’t want to give any glory or the opportunity to others to say that it was them who had made him rich. For us, while we should work hard in our jobs and businesses, we also need to acknowledge that God is the source of all our blessings. Abraham obeyed the law of tithing as a declaration of his dependence on God. We also need to make a conscious decision to put our trust in God intentionally by applying the biblical principles of tithing.
Since Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek some 400 years before the Mosaic law was enacted, the principle remains for us to follow today. The term tithe means a tenth of the whole. The idea is that those who were lesser honoured those who were greater. The particular practice in mind is honouring the greater with the tithe. Therefore, we should honour God with the tithe just as Abraham honoured Melchizedek. While Abraham practised tithing by giving Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils he got from battle, for us, the tithe would represent 10% of a person’s income, capital gain on investments, or company profits.
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.
Every time when we are blessed, be it the first bonus, the first contract, or the first dividend payout, we should honour God with tithing. God promises that when we choose to honour Him, our barns will be filled with plenty, and vats overflow with new wine. Because God is always giving, nobody can ever outgive God.
Sermon Series: Christian Worldview on Success
