What If?
God is a God of extravagant love. He loves us so much that He GIVES. Our response to God’s love should also be one of extravagance. Many people in our church have recently made commitments to continue to be faithful with the tithe. Many people also made new commitments to begin tithing. I am very thankful for the response!
I cannot tell you how many testimonies and stories I’ve received over the years from people in our church who have trusted God with the tithe and have seen God do financial miracles in their lives. I never get tired of hearing these stories. Just this past week, our Atlanta Campus Pastor, Jamal Baker, shared a really cool story with me that I thought I’d pass on to you.
Pastor Jamal and his wife, Tamieka, were having a conversation at the table with their five kids regarding tithing and the blessings of generosity. Their nine-year-old son Jace had just received the largest amount of money he’d ever received for his birthday. As he was calculating the tithe amount, he began to squirm a little. He commented, “That’s the most I’ve ever had to tithe! That’s a lot of money!”
Tamieka was gentle with him and replied, “I know as a kid it can be hard to give because you don’t know when you will get money again, but we tithe because we trust God and we’re giving thanks to Him.” Jace agreed, “Yeah, it is hard.” He looked at his parents in curiosity and said, “Does this really work for you?”
Pastor Jamal and Tamieka laughed and began to share with Jace how faithful God has been to them as they have been faithful with the tithe. “Look at the house we are living in, the clothes you’re wearing, the food on the table and the presence of God in our family,” Pastor Jamal said. “These things are all proof that tithing is working for our family!” Pastor Jamal and Tamieka assured Jace that God is indeed faithful. Just as tithing has worked for them, it will also work for Jace when he trusts God with the tithe. Jace smiled sheepishly and said, “Well, okay. If you guys say so, I can do it too.”
What a cool story! You have to love the inquisitiveness and faith of little Jace. May we all come before God like this young child, trusting God with what He has entrusted to us.
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” Malachi 3:10 (NIV)
If you’ve ever been like little Jace and wondered, “Does this really work?”, consider taking God at His Word in Malachi 3:10. Test Him in this! Yes, it really works!
Dave Divine, Lead Pastor
The Church At Chapelhill
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