“Honour the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your crops (income); then your barns will be abundantly filled and your vats will overflow with new wine.” – Proverbs 3:9-10 (AMP)
Abraham went to war to rescue Lot, his nephew, and God gave him victory so that he came home with lots of spoils and goods from the enemy he had defeated. Abraham was a man who knew God and understood that God is the honour of everything a man can have or possess in this life and he had the right attitude towards God with his resources. What did he do? the Bible records that he gave tithes of all to Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High. And after then, he refused to take any of the spoils for himself because his heart was not controlled by money.
One of the most debatable topics in the body of Christ today is the issue of whether tithe is a command for the New Testament believers like it was a command for the Old Testament saints. Judging from the very first mention of it in Genesis 14, Abraham already knew to pay tithe even before God gave it as a command for the children of Israel in later years and this is to prove that Abraham knew to honour God with the ten percent of his possessions, but more than that, Abraham lived a life that showed that he honoured God first with what he had.
Dear believer, if you find it difficult to honour God first with all you have, you will always argue giving tithe. What God is asking from you is beyond just ten percent but your all. One who has a heart that honours God with all will never struggle with giving God ten percent. Why do you pray for so much wealth when you can’t even give God out of the little you have? Is God truly honoured with your resources? Understanding that God comes first in all you do is essential and you must know that giving to God is in appreciation for what He has given you. Can God ask for your money?
Reflections: Do I truly honour God with my resources? What do I have that God cannot take from me? To what height do I hold my possessions in my heart?
Confession: I declare that all I have belongs to the Lord and I hold nothing so dear to me that I cannot give to God. I prosper by His grace and I have the heart that gives.
Related Scripture: Genesis 14; Malachi 3:8-12
Bible Reading: Genesis 7
