Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”
Our Bible verse for today: “Remember this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Be generous”
Generosity is a Biblical principle that God not only encourages, but requires of His people. God is generous with us and He expects us to be generous with others. However generosity is actually just the icing on the cake of how we as God’s people are to handle the money He allows us to have. Generosity with others brings us into the “over and above” regions of stewardship. There is actually a more basic and fundamental principle which must be established first. It is the principle of tithing.
As a starting place, God requires His people to set aside the first tenth of all we receive and give it to the church to finance His kingdom-building work on earth. The practice started with Abraham and Jacob in the book of Genesis; it was established as a requirement by Moses in the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus; it was affirmed by Nehemiah during the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh. 10:38); and God even closed the Old Testament by reaffirming the practice in Malachi 3:8-10. There He promised great blessings for those who would obey Him in this manner.
Four hundred years after the time of Malachi, Jesus reaffirmed the practice of tithing in Matthew 23:23. Beyond that, the Apostle Paul encouraged his readers to give joyfully but also sacrificially (2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9).
Based upon the whole body of scriptural teaching on the subject, early Christians established the tithe as the starting place and as the minimum for faithful Christian giving but it was only that, the minimum. The truly meaningful giving was that which was sacrificial and which came after the tithe had first been paid. That then, is where true Christian generosity begins, and that has been the established understanding about tithing and Christian generosity for almost 2000 years since then.
It has become something of a Christian cliché in our day, but the old saying still holds true that, “You can live a lot better on 90% with God’s blessing, than you can on 100% without His blessing.” That is very true. Spend a few moments reading Malachi 3:8-10 and Matthew 6:25-34. God promises to bless faithful tithers in ways you cannot even begin to imagine. He will bless in material ways probably, but with spiritual blessings without a doubt. That’s simply a Biblical promise pertaining to faithful tithing.
But then comes real generosity. Pay your tithe but don’t stop there. Bless others sacrificially, over and above, and the blessings of God upon you are compounded exponentially. Again, you can count on Him to meet your physical, material needs. But the best blessings of God are spiritual. And, you simply cannot out-give God.
As you prepare to gather with your church family this Sunday I encourage you to give careful and prayerful thought to your giving habits. Then, be generous.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 