Today I want to do three things with you.
- Read scripture and have you think through, is what God said true?
- Ask, why do we give? What is the deal with giving?
- What does it look like when we don’t give?
10 “Bring to the storehouse a full tenth of what you earn so there will be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD All-Powerful. “I will open the windows of heaven for you and pour out all the blessings you need. 11 I will stop the insects so they won’t eat your crops. The grapes won’t fall from your vines before they are ready to pick,” says the LORD All-Powerful. 12 “All the nations will call you blessed, because you will have a pleasant country,” says the LORD All-Powerful. NCV Malachi 3:10-12
You have to decide something. Is this real? Do you believe God? You have to decide when I comes to the topic of money, am I better off with controlling 100% without God’s blessing or I am I better off controlling 90% with God’s blessing?
This is about faith. God says, “Test me in this …I will open the windows of heaven for you”. Is this real? Do you believe God?
What is fascinating about us as people is when we trust God and when we don’t trust God. We trust God to give us His grace to wash away our sin – that’s big! We trust God with our future in heaven – that’s big. Some people are weird and think, “I trust that if I do a few religious things, that God will get me to into heaven.” So we trust God in some real big things. But, when it comes to money and I make $10, I don’t trust him with $1, that’s not going to happen. Thank you for the sin thing, I can’t do a thing about that. Thank you for the promise of heaven, I have no idea where heaven is. But, back it up God with my $1, not going to trust You! And, the church shouldn’t even discuss it because Jesus never said to give 10% [You are right, Jesus said, “Sell everything and give it to the poor.”]
You have to decide when I comes to money, am I better off with controlling 100% without God’s blessing or I am I better off controlling 90% with God’s blessing?
Giving money is called faith. Faith means I do something.
If I don’t do it, I don’t believe it. And if I don’t do it, I miss out on everything He promised.
It’s easy to accept God’s grace because it’s what He does. It’s easy to believe I am going to heaven because that is what He does. I think giving 10% back to God on purpose and consistently is hard because it’s what we do. Ya, He said He would bless us but I don’t want to give Him jack.
Why give? What is the deal about giving to God? I have three kids, some days they drive me nuts, He can have one of them. Why money?
22 “You must set aside a tithe of your crops – one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. 23 Bring this tithe to the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored, and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to fear the LORD your God. NLT Deuteronomy 14:22-23
Same section of the bible but a different translation says: …you will learn to live in deep reverence before GOD, your God, as long as you live. MSG
Same section of the bible but a different translation says: …is to teach you always to put God first in your lives. TLB
Why give? It is what we do on our part to live in reverence of God all our lives. It is the practical way to place God in first place of our lives. What does God say? God says, “Test me in this …I will open the windows of heaven for you”.
Now since I was in high school, I have given money to God. Does that mean that everything in my life worked out the way I wanted it to? No. Did that mean when I had a 100% commission job, I was it was easy for me? No. Does that mean that my car never broke down, the washer and dryer never broke down, the air conditioner never broke down? No. Does that mean my girl’s college is already paid for? No. This is not an investment program. I don’t give with expectation. I give because I place God first in my life and declare my dependence on Him.
Giving money is called faith. Faith means I do something.
If I don’t do it, I don’t believe it. And if I don’t do it, I miss out on everything He promised.
Last week Sam did a great job communicating that Jesus came to give us life. That includes our finances. We follow His principles, we live in financial freedom. Why do we fight Jesus on this? Why do we accept grace to remove sin, hope to go to heaven, but geek when God says… give. It’s for our freedom, it’s not for our misery.
What happens in our lives when we don’t give? When we practically don’t put God in first place?
Jesus told us. “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or – worse! – stolen by burglars. 20 Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. 21 It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
22 “Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. 23 If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have! MSG Matthew 6:19-23
Jesus taught, store up your treasures in heaven. That includes your giving, your serving and your obedience to God. Take all that together and create a 401k in heaven. Why? Because heaven is your home not earth.
Jesus told us to stop living in a way where you only focus on today. When you do that you struggle to give, you struggle to serve, you struggle to obey.
Then Jesus gives a real simple practical application to help us remember this. He talks about our eyes. Our eyes represents our ability to see spiritually. When we give, serve and obey, we live with our eyes wide open and we can see life from God’s point of view.
When we struggle to give, struggle to serve, struggle to obey, we can’t see well. We are squinty-eyed in greed and distrust. We ultimately can’t see life from God’s point of view.
You and I know this already. This is our life experience. When we live for today, I am squinty-eyed and I don’t see my need of God. I don’t see why I would ever need to give. I don’t see why I would ever serve or be a fully devoted disciple of Jesus. And this money talk really rubs us the wrong way.
Giving money is called faith. Faith means I do something.
If I don’t do it, I don’t believe it. And if I don’t do it, I miss out on everything He promised.
Let me ask you something: how do you live? Eyes wide in wonder and belief or squinty-eyed in greed and trust? The only way, to open your eyes and allow God’s light into your soul, is to put God first place in your life.