Daily Devotion

Where's my cut?

Wow I just had to say this, as I posted this on the blog, the scripture I gave last night in the devotion is up on my blog as the scripture of the day! Talk about confirmation!!

Each of you must give what you have decided in your heart, not with regret or under compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7(ISV)

I was raised to always pay tithes. According to several places throughout the Old Testament, the tithe is 10% of what you have. In Leviticus 27:20, it says "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy to the LORD." Some translations take this verse and say one-tenth. I do not think that the tithe is just financial, as it is clearly stated in the verse above. Nowadays many churches look at the tithe as only financial, the life-bread that keeps the church running. In Genesis 28:22, in the context of the story, Jacob asked God to keep watch over him throughout his journey and upon a rock that he designated to be the House of God, he declared he would give a tithe, or a tenth according to King James, of all he had. In Deuteronomy when God was telling the Israelites what they could eat, he mentioned the tithe of the grain and instructed them to eat it saying "Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always." So giving the tithe is a form of reverence to God. The most "infamous" scriptures in the Bible on tithing come from Malachi 3:8-12--when we do not give God our proper tithes and offerings "pests" and "the devourer" that are out and about come after what we have. God lays a blessing on us when we do as He asks. In verse 10 God asks us to test Him in whether He will open the floodgates of blessings over us when we bring our whole tithe to the storehouse--meaning church people! I long wondered how churches ran and how the people that worked there got paid, and quite honestly, what did they do with that money, lol. I had the little pests attack me a few times when I did not pay my tithes. It actually lifted a burden off of me to do what God asked and pay my tithes. I'm not saying that you can always expect bad by not paying your tithes, but I am saying you can expect good! You can expect increase in your life.

Most of us have become accustomed to getting paid, paying our bills, and then if anything is left, giving an offering to God. We often do the same thing with our time. That is not right! Give what you have decided upon in your heart and let it reverence God! Don't give Him your leftovers! You never know what could happen, you can get an unexpected bill or get swamped at work or with family issues, as we sometimes do, and ignore God. If you set aside God's part ahead of time, like when you first get paid, and save it, you won't have to use that money for something else.(1 Cor 16:2) Likewise with a place in your life. If you reverence God with your money and time, don't you think He will bless you with more! And I say give God a tithe of everything you have, like Jacob. That includes your time! If you set aside time everyday to pray and talk with Him, even if you don't have any money, you are still tithing in some way. If you give God His cut first you can expect blessings!

"The first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest on your house." Ezekiel 44:30

I advise you to look at the commentary on this page: http://bible.cc/leviticus/27-31.htm, below the scriptures. Then if you want more on tithing, click on "Tithes" under the "Jump to Next" header on the right. Love ya!