October 6, 2014

Heart and Soul: Devotional

It is bothersome to willingly give up what we desperately need. It is a sacrifice, really. This is especially true when it comes to finances. A notable purpose for finances is to alleviate much of our problems, debts, and concerns. So taking away from such surety is unappealing, especially if we are replacing it with things that are unseen, not evident, and not immediate. Such an act takes a special kind of confidence.

Eyes on the Tithes

This is how I learned to view tithing, how my experience has been. After working for less than enough, I am asked by the person giving the appeal on Sabbath morning, the pastor, the church, to take away 10 percent of that which I absolutely cannot afford to diminish. I mean, I have to eat! I have to pay rent. I have to buy toothpaste. I have to pay school fees.

So I always saw their asking as an imposition. Furthermore, the reassurance of my sanity is always placed on a higher being, a higher purpose. However, these people are not the ones asking me. The One who is truly asking me goes by many names. And I like to call Him YHWH—my Lord, my Master. This is how He exercised patience with me to bring me to a point of willingness to taste and see He is all He says He is.

An Uncomfortable Abstraction

Tithing did not come easily to me, or even with a willing heart. Giving up a portion of my wages was something I didn’t fully want to do. There is always that apprehension, that hesitance, that caution. Ten percent is a lot. But God still asks us to give 10 percent of our income to Him. In actuality we are to believe that our entire income is His; we are only being entrusted with the privilege of managing His funds. Yet we sometimes choose to withhold that percentage from Him. And if you are like me, you have convinced yourself that yours are extenuating circumstances.

My Extenuating Circumstances

I am 24 years old. From the time I started my first job to just recently, I was in college. College: I probably do not have to explain further what that indicates for my financial situation. My income was not enough even with a job. So you know that college students are in a troublesome position when returning tithe. As a college student, to let go of 10 percent probably means surviving on water and bread for at least a week. And with our demanding schedules, we really do need to eat.

Therefore, tithing as a student had always been something I approached flippantly. Even when I did give back I felt as though I was taking so much away from myself without getting enough in return. So I did not develop a tithe-paying habit. Instead, I argued (to myself, hoping God was listening) that I needed that money—because surely God would not want me to starve, or be late on an expense. Those words carried me without tithing for years. They were some brutal years. Frankly, I did not trust God to be who He says He is. I wanted to get by on my own strength. It did not work.

God Is Who He Says He Is

Genesis 14 chronicles the story of Abram giving a portion of his winnings to Melchizedek, king of Salem, and priest of God: “Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything” (Gen. 14:18-20, ESV).*

Abram, a man called by God, here rendered God’s portion of his possessions to the priest. Also noteworthy, he would not allow a human being, the king of Sodom, to appear to be the source of his great possessions (verses 21-24). At this point in Abram’s journey he was building a foundation with God. He knew where his riches came from—God.

In subsequent chapters we see God fulfilling His promises to Abraham: He protects him, delivers him from his enemies, gives him and Sarah a son, and multiplies their descendants. This same God will also protect, deliver, provide for us, and give us the desires of our heart. Our only task is to trust in Him with all our heart and lean not unto our own understanding.

Why I Tithe

Tithing eventually came to me through two separate Sabbath morning offering appeals. In the first experience I was watching my Metropolitan Seventh-day Adventist Church in Hyattsville, Maryland, online. Remember, I disliked offertory appeals; my mind was not open to anything that was about to be said. The woman giving the appeal told a personal story of how God blesses her every time she gives. She made the point that even when she does not have enough she still gives and God rewards—not necessarily in finances, but He still rewards. It was such a simple appeal that I am still astonished at how it struck me. I thought, God does provide for me, even when I do not give.

The other appeal came two weeks later. Offertory appeal time came and I was expecting the usual, give and you will receive. However, the young man took a different approach. He conveyed that what we earn is actually not ours. It does not belong to us. It is God’s. God only entrusts us. And when we do not give, we are robbing Him. His words brought a point home to me: my relationship with God is based on mutual trust: God trusts me with His finances; I should trust Him with sustaining me.

Making a Start

Although I may need that extra 10 percent to pay bills, or to buy that tube of toothpaste, the act of engaging in this system with God is exciting. I look at it as a challenge. It is me saying “OK, God, show off!” Realistically, it does not always happen the way I predict, want, or perceive. My act of willfully and wholeheartedly placing my trust in God, the unseen, stretches my faith. And frankly, if I can let go of finances, the material possession that guarantees comfort, I think I can let go of many things.

Tithing is just the start, a big start, a seemingly uncomfortable start. But I am truly intrigued as to how God will show Himself to me. And with Him doing so, my belief and assurance in Him will increase above the faith I place in my finances. I hope this can be your experience, your inclination, your intrigue: to prove God faithful.


* Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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