Text: Hebrews 7:1-10
Memory verse:
”Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.“
Hebrews 7:8 NKJV
Have you ever given a pack of biscuits to a little child and then asked the child to give you a piece from it? Some children will immediately give because they don’t like that type of biscuit or because they are already full. Very few will freely give, but most children will bluntly and strangely refuse! When it happens, most of us laugh at such reactions, and we count it as childishness or foolishness. Unfortunately, this is the way most of us are to God, too. God laughs at us and considers our actions as utter foolishness. He gives us one million and asks for one hundred thousand, but we give Him reasons why we can not give. Some consider the money insufficient enough for them to part with a portion of it. How can someone withhold from his benefactor? This was the Lord’s rebuke to Israel. “Oxen and donkeys know who owns and feeds them, but my people won’t ever learn.” (Isa 1:3 CEV).
Do you also know who owns you? Do you know who feeds you? An African proverb says, “The river that forgets its source will dry up”. Martin Luther observed that in a Christian’s life, “There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, the mind, and the purse.” As a believer, is your purse converted?
Tithing helps you to remember God as your source. Having returned victoriously from the battle against the five kings who took the people of Sodom captive and rescued Lot, Abram gave the tithes of all the spoils to God. He gave out of love and a deep sense of gratitude for being the Source of his victory. He gave the tithe to Melchizedek, “a priest of God Most High” and with an endless life (Gen 14:17-20).
Some stingy people who look for excuses to avoid tithing claim that tithing belongs to the law and we are under grace. They forget that the first tithe was given by Abram before the law. The levitical priests received tithes under the law as men who die, but today, Jesus, a priest under the order of Melchizedek and with an endless life, is still receiving tithes. “Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.“ (Heb 7:8).
Whenever you give your tithe, you are giving it to honour Jesus, as your Source. He said, “…for without Me, you can do nothing.“ (John 15:5).
Friends, tithing is a simple way of showing that God is everything to you, and He is number one in your life, before money and everything.
Prayer points
1. Father, please, help me to always recognize You as my Source and never to act foolishly in Jesus’ name.
2. Father, let nothing ever take Your first place in my life, in Jesus’ name.
Today’s declarations
1. As a believer, my purse is also converted, as well as my heart and mind.
2. Jesus is still living to receive my tithe, as my Source and my First.
Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng