The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 10 July 2021 – TOPIC: TITHING IS GOD’S COMMAND
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TOPIC: TITHING IS GOD’S COMMAND
READ: DEUTERONOMY 14:22-29 (NKJV)22. ” You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year.23. “And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.24. “But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry [the tithe, or] if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you,25. “then you shall exchange [it] for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses.26. “And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.27. “You shall not forsake the Levite who [is] within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.28. ” At the end of [every] third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store [it] up within your gates.29. “And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who [are] within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.*THE MESSAGE:*God, through Moses, gave the law regarding tithing to the Israelites as a nation chosen by God to be His special people. Tithing did not start with the Israelites; it began with the patriarch – Abraham – even before the law was given (Genesis 14:18-20).The two distinct laws regarding the regular tithing and the triennial tithing as given in the passage today show the following: (i) God has established tithing as part of the service rendered to Him; (ii) How the Israelites should apply their tithes especially the triennial tithes, mostly meant for the care of the poor, widows, fatherless and Levites; (iii) Tithe was and is still sacred to God and a source of blessing to His people.Today, some religious groups and persons play down on tithing, dismissing it as only relevant to the Old Testament and forgetting that Jesus too approves of tithing as implied in Matthew 23:23.Truly, He rebuked the religious leaders of His day for playing down on love, justice and mercy, but He did not say tithing was no longer accepted by God. He emphasised that as they held tithing as service to God, so also should they see love, justice and mercy as service. Tithing is a way of affirming God as the Owner and Lord over everything we have. Tithe is one major way of giving demanded by God (Malachi 3:8) and He desires that we give our tithes consistently and faithfully to provoke His blessings upon us. Tithing is an honourable service before God.*PRAYER:* Lord, help me to be faithful to You in my tithes and offerings always, in Jesus ‘Name. Amen