BACKGROUND:
Young people who acquire wisdom need to remember that they did not become wise by themselves; wisdom comes from God. A heart awareness of this and a proper response to God help prevent the evil of pride (Romans 12:16). As a result God gives health and vigor to a life of one who makes the choice to humble themselves.
Honoring the Lord with the first fruits of all one’s crops was a way of expressing gratitude to Him for His provisions. It was and is a way of acknowledging God and His help. In return, God promised to fill the barns (with grain) and the vats... with new wine. Bottom line: When you honor God - He honors you.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
Reading Proverbs 3:9-10 - "Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." Three things come to mind when it comes to the issue of How God wants me to use my wealth…
#1. You use ten percent to honor God.
Of course the Bible calls this tithing and it’s taught all through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. “Tithing” means “ten.” Ten percent. One tenth. Why did God say “Give ten percent back to Me off the top?” Why did He choose ten? Beats me! He could have said two percent, five percent. He could have said eighty percent and you live on twenty. Why He said ten I have no idea. That’s one of the things on my list to ask God when I get to heaven.
But He said I want you to take the first ten- percent and give it back to Me for three reasons. First it shows your gratitude that you realize it all came from Me in the first place. Second it shows your priorities are right in the present.
Third, it shows you’re going to trust Me to take care of your needs in the future.
God says you will succeed in life if you honor me with the money I gave you. Did you know that there are more promises in the Bible about giving and tithing than any other thing? Why? Because God wants you to become like Him. And God is generous. “God so loved the world that He gave…” Everything you have is because of God’s generosity. Everything I have is because of God’s generosity. He wants us to be like Him.
Dueteronomy 14;23 says, - “The purpose of tithing is…” because God is poor and He needs your money." No, I messed that up. The purpose of tithing is to show that God is first in your life. Obviously God doesn’t need my money. He doesn’t even want my money. What He wants is me. He wants my heart. The Bible says where your treasure is your heart is. He says I want you and I want you to show it to Me in a physical, material way. He says I want you to put Me number one. “The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives.”
That’s the first thing. I put God first. You pay God first.
#2. Use some of your wealth to provide for family needs.
I didn’t say use it all to provide for family greeds. There’s a difference between needs and greeds. Is that plasma screen really a need when you can’t afford it at this point? Can you delay gratification and wait two more, three more years while the prices come down? Or do you have to have it now? A need and a greed are not the same thing.
Guys, if you’re a husband, if you’re a father, you’re a dad you are commanded by God to provide for the needs of your family. “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Wow! That’s pretty strong.
God says money is a test and money is a tool and I’m watching you. Are you providing for your family’s needs? Or are you blowing it on gambling? Or are you blowing it on drinking? Are you blowing it on all kinds of stuff and your family’s suffering from that? He says you need to provide for your family’s needs.
#3. Use some of your wealth to help others.
God is watching. The Bible says this in 1 Timothy 6 “Tell people to use their money to do good [remember it’s a tool]. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they’ll be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven - it is the only safe investment for eternity!”
The Bible says when you give to other people to help meet their needs, that’s like banking it in heaven. That’s one of the ways you store up treasure in heaven.
There’s one group of people God says He especially cares about. The poor. There are over two thousand verses in the Bible that talk about the poor. And God cares about the poor so much He says, Whenever you help the poor I guarantee you I’m going to help you. Over and over God says when you’re generous with the poor, I’m going to be generous with you.
In fact the Bible says this “Suppose you see a brother or sister that needs food or clothing and you say, ‘God bless you. Stay warm. Eat well.’ But you don’t give them any food or clothing. What good does that do? Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all. It’s dead. It’s useless.”
The Bible says this in 2 Corinthians “You will honor God through this genuine act of service because of your commitment to spread the good news of Christ and because of your generosity in sharing.”
Ponder these things in your heart today. Here's a thought for you. We have about 20 kids who are in need of a scholarship to attend VBS these next two weeks. Why don't your pray about using your wealth to help one or more of them attend?
I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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