Imtijungla Longchar
Tithing means a tenth goes to God. Leviticus 27:30-32 is very clear about it, “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the tree belongs to the Lord, it is holy to the Lord. If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. The entire tithe of the herd and flock-every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod-will be holy to the Lord”. One of the greatest problems in many families is to bring the money under God’s control. An illustration describes the relationship between God and our use of money.
“Once upon a time God gave a prehistoric man 10 red apples. None of the people who lived near him had tasted apples before. They would give almost anything for an apple.
God told the man to trade three of the apples for a cave. It would shelter his family from the wind and rain. The man obeyed God and found a good cave.
God told the man to trade three apples for clothing. It would cover his family’s bodies and warm them during wet, chilly weather. The man obeyed God and traded three apples for clothes for his family.
God told the man to trade three of the apples for food to eat. It would sustain and nourish his family. The man obeyed God and traded one apple each for fruit, grain and meat.
Then God told the man to give one apple back to Himself as a gift. It would sense as a symbol of thanks giving, relationship and love. It would allow God to plant the last apple and produce many more apples in the years to come. The man had only one apple left.
The man looked at his last apple. It looked bigger and shinier than any of the others. He could imagine its sweet taste. He could smell its sweet aroma as he held it near his mouth. He longed to sink his teeth into the delicious apple to savor its juices.
The man reasoned that God could create an apple tree if He wanted to. God really didn’t need this one best apple to plant as a blessing for his future. So he ate the last-and gave back to God the core!
Some people consume the money God trusts into their care. They spend most of it on necessities, some on little pleasures and then they finished off God’s share. They only give God the leftovers. Tragedy of tragedies, they miss the blessing God promised.”
God, the creator of all things, He is the only proprietor. We are His stewards. All that we have is a trust from God. Money is not ours and everything we have does not belong to us, therefore God’s requirement come first. Our tithe to God and offerings to the church and mission work are the first money we should take out each month and offer that portion which He claims. Many a time we spend money in self-indulgence, in pleasures and luxuries but we are reluctant to give Him back his portion. But God wants us to give cheerfully (2 Cor.9:7). Sometimes we bring so many excuses like sickness, school admission, and emergency expenditures and don’t tithe. We disobey God and suffer the consequences. We are not to fail in giving God back His share and we are not to give reluctantly. If we fail to give God’s share, we are robbing God. Look at Malachi 3:8, the Lord says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, how do we rob you? In tithes and offerings.” But there is a good news for us if only we repent our sins of robbing God and start giving back His share. The fact is that givers prosper more than takers. Look again at Malachi 3: 10, here God is commanding us to “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 gates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
Again I want to continue the story of Lee Hyung-Ja to see whether this Malachi 3:10 really fulfilled or not. “Incredibly the business of Hyung-Ja’s husband turned round during a time of financial and political crises in South Korea. The couple now faces the challenge of what to do with their growing wealth. She says, “I had tithed my husband’s monthly salary, but when his business turned round, we prayed that we would give the tithe of our business as long as we live.”
The tithe was too large a sum to give to one church. With their first tithe from the business they gave an interest-free loan to build a church, which is now the largest Methodist Church in the world. One morning she was on her knees before dawn, pouring out her heart to God. She heard a voice commanding, “Light every dry branch and pass the torches from mountain peak to mountain peak, raise the torch of the Holy Spirit high and pass it unto the end of the world.” God had called her to a new ministry, which would encircle the world, and out of this vision the Korean Centre for World Mission was officially organized in 1977. Again a network of Bible studies and prayer groups called “Torches” was started.
All these ministries were supported by Lee Hyung-Ja’s tithes. As their business became bigger and bigger, she and her husband built a 60 storey scrapper, the tallest building in Seoul according to God’s direction. She made large grants to the Broad Casting Company and the Asian Centre for theological studies, which trains Korean missionaries. She also made a new mission center called “Torch Centre” where the largest theological library in Korea is kept. Every year she kept aside a generous budget to help needy people and orphans. Lee Hyung-Ja challenges us with her own words “It is not good to grasp only for oneself. For then the Lord gives constant poverty, since he does not like selfishness. When you give generously as He himself gave to us, then He gives you something constantly to offer.”
What an amazing woman! Her God is our God too. Surely giving is a blessing. The same God that answered Lee Hyung-Ja’s prayer and rewarded her in return is interested in you and your family too.
(The writer is a homemaker, teacher, writer and a well-known speaker)
