Day 130: Psalm 126-134
Parenting is still hard work. It's interesting to me that in today's reading it says,
"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him."
Thank you, God, for reminding me of that. It's not easy to remember this in the midst of disobedience and discipline, but they really are a gift. They're miracles, actually. Thank you, God, for the gift of children.
Day 36: Deuteronomy 11-15
The idea of tithing, where one is expected to give 10% of all earnings to the Lord, is an interesting biblical concept that finds both supporters and critics. Today, some people follow this 10% Judaic practice and give this amount or more to their church (or other worthy endeavors), all in the name of the Lord. There are also some who don’t follow this ancient law. They may view this law as one that God gave to the Israelites and not to Christians, so they don’t need to abide by it. Others view Jesus’ comments on tithing to go beyond a meager 10% and give 100% of everything—all that we have, our whole heart—which goes beyond monetary giving. Others don’t follow this law because 10% is too much to give to the Lord when we can’t even feed and clothe our families.
Regardless of what you believe or what you practice, the idea of tithing stems from the notion of giving something to the Lord. In the Old Testament, people presented animals as sacrifices to the Lord. Sometimes they burnt these animals. Sometimes they ate these animals. Sometimes they gave the animals away to people in need. However they gave, though, they rejoiced and praised the Lord as they presented their sacrifices, and they showed reverence to the Lord.
What’s more is that the Israelites could even exchange their tithe for silver, go out with their household to the place the Lord chooses for them, and then eat there in the presence of the Lord and rejoice. This counted as their tithe. Here, the tithe would be a family meal in which the household reflected on God and praised Him for all he has done. See Deut. 15:25-26. Other tithes given by the Israelites were stored and given to the Levites (who were the priests and had no money of their own), the foreigners, the fatherless, and the widows. These people could come eat and be satisfied. Through the practice of tithing, these people were taken care of.
Isn’t this how money is still distributed in churches? We give money to “the Lord” (or the church), and the church distributes this money in various ways. They give money to the ministers (aka, the Levites), immigrants, orphans, and widows. Churches are still continuing the Lord’s work, and the Lord continues to take care of His people through the tithes and offerings given by individuals.
At times, though, I have questioned what it means to give money to the Lord. How much should I give? Why do I have to sacrifice so much to give money to God? Where does the money I give go? Will it be spent recklessly and carelessly? Will it be used in the best way that will further the kingdom of God?
I don’t know. But as a preacher’s wife, I find myself in an interesting position when it comes to giving money to God: the money I give to my church indirectly comes back to me. That is, since my husband is a preacher and supported by a church that collects such money from its people, when individuals give money to our church, some of this money pays for Shane’s salary, our financial well-being. Is that right? Yes, we are doing the Lord’s work, but the money isn’t really going to the Lord; it’s going to a person (or a family).
Some people don’t think ministers should get paid, and that’s a different discussion that I’m not going to get into now. For now, I’m interested in the idea of how God commands the Israelites to distribute their tithes to people—to people who don’t have much money and who are in need of it. Here, God seems to call for the distribution of wealth to those who don’t have.
In our economy today, we have all had to make cutbacks. But how often have we thought about those people who didn’t have anything to cut back? Who didn’t have anything to begin with and are in desperate situations now? What have their lives been like during this economic depression? Deuteronomy 15 says, “If anyone is poor among your people in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need….Give generously [to the needy among your people] and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.”
We already give a lot of our money to the poor through the taxes we pay. Perhaps you feel that the taxes you pay sufficiently provide for these people. Perhaps you have even complained about all the taxes you pay and the burden that poor people put on our system—on you. However, while you may want things differently, God views it as our responsibility—the church’s responsibility—to take care of these people. To give to them by giving to the Lord.
I want to encourage you to reflect on your attitudes about giving to the Lord. I also want to encourage churches to remember that a large part of the money collected should go towards those listed in Deuteronomy 15. When we give generously and do so without a resentful heart, God will bless us. So, go and give away.
Day 32: Numbers 26 to 30
I'm feeling guilty.
Over and over again God instructs the Israelites to give him offerings. These offerings range from burnt offerings and sin offerings to daily offerings, weekly sabbath offerings, and monthly offerings. God wants them to offer sacrifices to Him so that they can be pure and holy. Today, God also wants us to make offerings to him. He wants us to make financial offerings and more metaphoric offerings as well, or giving of ourselves to him (offering ourselves to Him).
I'm feeling guilty because of the financial aspect. As a family, we decided long ago that we would give ten percent of our gross income to God (primarily through the church). We have done this over the years, but sometimes when I write the check I think to myself, "At least we'll be getting some of this back with our taxes" or "At least we'll be able to write this off on our taxes." Isn't that awful?! I know. I shouldn't think be thinking that, but sometimes I do.
I know this is not the way God wants me to think about giving to him, about presenting offerings to Him. And I really don't know why I care. But what strikes me here is that I'm wondering if I do this in the more metaphoric use of the word offering. Do I view metaphoric offerings in the same sense that I view financial offerings? Do I say, "Yes, Lord, you can have this part of me--even all of me--but I only offer myself to you because I know that I'm going to benefit from it as well. This way, I don't have too sacrifice too much."
Yikes! God doesn't just want me to do the deed; he wants me to have the right attitude about it as well. He wants to rid me of the pride I feel for giving offerings to him and instead fill me with an understanding that God is holy and deserving of my sacrifices. I shouldn't look at it like what's in it for me; instead, I should love God for His own sake. For who He is. For what He's done.
Day 21: Leviticus 1-7
The first seven chapters of Leviticus discuss the various offerings that the Israelites are to make to God: burnt offering; grain offering; fellowship offering; sin offering; and guilt offering. God gives very specific instructions on the purpose of these offerings, as well as how they are to be carried out.
Today, we can make offerings to God. We can give to God through our church. We can give our money to missionaries, church planters, and non-profit organizations, all of which are meant to promote the Lord's work. We can even give offerings to God by giving him ourselves--our whole selves.
We have been extremely blessed by those who chose to give offerings to our work as church planters. Hundreds of people gave to us so that we could do the Lord's work here in Waco. Some gave $25 one time. Others gave $25 monthly. Still others supported us by giving $100 per month, $250 per month, or even $500 per month! People were so giving. We could not have accomplished what we did without their (your!) offerings!
We feel so blessed. These laws that God set out in the Old Testament for how the Israelites are to give to God carried over into today where people who know us and love us gave money to God (through us) because they believed in God. We are so grateful to you. Those words do not even begin to explain how thankful and appreciative we are to you. Thank you for giving to us. Thank you for giving to God. May it come back to you tenfold.
We will pass on the gifts you gave us to others.
