Stealing From God?

If you are a Christian, then you realise and accept that God created and OWNS the universe.

From that starting point, let’s be VERY, VERY clear. God doesn’t NEED our money, it’s already His!

Every breath we take. Every crumb we eat. Every drop of water we drink. Every ray of sunshine our body absorbs. It ALL belongs to God. We are merely granted to be custodians of all we see around us.

Malachi 3:8-10
“Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

So, assuming we wish to OBEY God, what is the minimum He expects of us?

There are three tithes and seven offerings required each year.

Let me stress again, everything is already God’s. He is generous enough to allow us to keep the major part of our income for ourselves. Also, He promises us that He will shower us with blessings if we OBEY Him.

The first tithe is a very simple 10% of everything we receive in our bank accounts from our work. Whatever amount the government instructs our employers to deduct each month, that doesn’t count as tithable income. Just the amount we actually have access to spend.

Once we have paid this 10% to our Church, the other 90% is OURS.

The second tithe is another 10%, as before. However, this DOESN’T get paid to our Church. This tithe, God tells us to save each month to provide the funds needed to attend the Feast of Tabernacles each year. By tradition and not by command most True Christians also send into the Church a further 1% (10% of the 10% second tithe). This allows the Church to help needy members who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend. Also, at the end of the Feast, those with excess second tithe, send this into the Church. This covers any shortfall in funds given out to poorer members.

The third tithe is another 10%. This is paid in to the Church. However, we are commanded to only pay this twice in a seven-year period. We pay this on our income from the third and sixth year.

The only remaining command is for us to give a FREEWILL offering on each of the seven Holy Days. God leaves this up to us to decide the amount according to how we have been blessed. If we give generously, God promises to give back to us more blessings than if we just give a bare minimum.

Remember the end of the passage above:

TRY IT! PUT ME TO THE TEST!