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Jesus calls himself the Physician and as the Physician he can diagnose
a problem pretty accurately. With the young ruler who asks him
what he should do to gain eternal life, Jesus tells him to keep the
commandments but then further tells him to sell all he has and give to
the poor if he wants to be perfect. The young ruler when he hears
this goes away sad because he had great possessions. Money had
more power over him than his love for God and as a result he refuses to
accept the Physician’s prescription for perfection. Being able to give freely and live simply is a great blessing. The bible equates covetousness with idolatry and the love of money as the root of all kinds of evil. Putting money in the place of God or our love for our neighbor is a consequence of the fall and only by obeying God and living simply and giving generously can we break the stranglehold of money and wealth in our lives. Tithing which came before the law with Abraham but also became part of the law was instituted by God partly to deal with the effects that the love of money has over our lives. The tenth is God’s and the rest we must negotiate with wisdom as being ours. Just as the law has great virtue when it is kept so too, tithing has great virtue when it is followed. Today we are not under the old covenant and we are dead to the law. This means that we look to God for direction in giving and we follow the Spirit not the letter of the law. This may mean giving more than ten percent and only by being in fellowship with God can we know how to give. Just as the law is a guide to our behavior, tithing is a guide to our giving but ultimately obedience to the Spirit is our measuring rod. One of the issues when dealing with giving has to do with the way we live our lives. If we live at the brink of our means or live above our means then the burden of giving can be overwhelming. We need to live in such a way that every month there is much left over so that we can give to God and our neighbor generously if God so desires. But if we live at the edge of our livelihood we will not be in a position to give as God would have us give. Consequently living simply is a necessity when it comes to giving generously. Spiritual sacrifices have great recompense of reward. Just as there is a blessing to fasting so too there is a blessing to giving. When we give, we open ourselves up to receive the blessing which may be monetary or spiritual. When we give we get and when we give generously we receive bountifully. Consider what I say and may God bless the reader as he or she opens up to receive the word of the Lord. Amen. |