MosaicRC

On our journey towards mature faith in God, there are certain areas that require action — tithing and serving others.  Both can be a little scary, but the benefits are amazing!  It is not so coincidence that the two things that we seem to have the least of (money and time) are the very things God wants us to give in His name.  Money is such a loaded issue for people (more couples divorce over money issues than any other), and it has gotten pretty abused within the Christian church.

God says that if we are not giving 10% (1 dime out of every dollar) of our increase (Income) then we are robbing from Him (Malachi 3:8).   That puts a pretty heavy spin on the subject doesn’t it? I think we all forget that it is not we who provide; but God provides to us through talents, abilities, skills, and jobs.  He goes on and says that if we will trust Him and are faithful in our tithing, then He will bless us by opening up the flood gates of heaven.  In fact, He says, “There will be so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

I know this is true, I have many stories on how our faith (trust) and faithfulness in tithing has resulted in abundance, money mysteriously stretching out beyond belief, and mysterious checks coming in at the perfect time.  God challenges us by telling us to test Him in this, telling us what the result will be.  It is like a teacher telling her students that if they take a test they will get an A+.  Really good odds that it will work out for us.  So, are you ready?

The other area we seem to want to neglect is looking beyond our own needs and desires.  Our culture has become so narcissistic that the needs or wants of others have become invisible to us.  If we are truely on a road to faith and Jesus is our example, then we should become students of His ways.  In Mark 10:45, Jesus tells His disciples (students), “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

If that is what He was teaching them, it still stands for us today.  I am excited about the opportunity to serve my neighbors next Sunday and share time and food with them.  Getting out of the building this coming Sunday and actually doing what we so often talk about will be challenging and fun.

I hope the challenges and opportunities that have been put before you the past two weeks will strech you as well as bless you.  Time and money are precious commodities these days, so we need to be wise and get the most out of them.  By trusting God and asking Him to guide us with our time and money we are sure to win.

So, get out there and be the hands and feet of the King,

Rod

P.S.  What are some of the serving ideas?  Do you have room for others to come and partner with you? It is fun and more comfortable to have someone else to serve with.  Leave a comment and let others see your ideas and let us know if we can help you.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 12:14 pm and is filed under Destination: faith, InTheLoop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.