Thought of the Day !!

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."
Genesis 28:20-22 (NIV)

Jacob had a dream where he saw a stairway to heaven with angels going to and fro and God standing above. God spoke to Jacob and told him that He would be with Jacob. He told Jacob that His promise to Abraham would live on through him. And then these verses come out of gratitude to what God has said.

Often times people see tithing or offering as a duty...something that they have to do. But here we see the perfect example of what an offering to God should be like. Jacob's offering was not demanded by God. It was given out of gratitude for what God was doing and what He would continue to do in Jacob's life.

Each and every one of us ought to be grateful to God for what He's done, is doing and will do in our lives. And it should be out of this gratitude that we give back. The way to give back to God is to give to His people. Jesus made it clear that when we do unto the least of these who are with us, we've done unto him.

This can be done in different ways, and different people will have different theological stances on this issue. As a United Methodist pastor, I know that our members promise to support the church in which they join with their gifts (spiritual and monetary) as well as other areas. So I believe that if you belong to a church, you should fulfill your promise and do just that. This doesn't mean that you cannot support other causes that will please God, just that you have made a promise to support your church. And we are called to be people of integrity.

Others might argue my stance. And I would try to honor their position. The key to this giving thing is that we do it both cheerfully and with gratitude. God doesn't need our money. He wants our desire to serve Him. Giving a tenth of our money is biblical. I personally believe that we should strive to give a tenth (or a tithe) of our money, our efforts, our time, our energy. I believe that when we've achieved this, anything we can give beyond this is an even truer offering to God that makes our Father in Heaven proud of us for looking out for our brothers and sisters.

Next time you think about placing some money in an offering plate or handing a person some cash or writing a check to a charitable institution, do it with gratitude and a cheerful heart. Instead of thinking about what you are giving up, think about how lucky you are to have enough that you can give even a little bit away. And then expect God to smile. For every time we give. We give Him a reason to be happy.

In the love of Christ,
greg