|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
TITHING This concept didn't come easily to me. I had been raised with the concept that giving was important but a tithe wasn't the standard. My concept was to give $5 or $10 each week with $20 reserved for special occasions. That amounted to 2 to 5%. When I was told of tithing I thought that was just nuts but slowly I became convicted that this was really God's plan. I didn't just jump in. For me I started adding to my giving with a tithe as my goal. I mixed a intellectual determination and the push of my spirit. Each month we added to our giving until we reached a tithe. I would like to say I have been totally loyal at tithing. I still struggle to maintain this giving level. I don't find comfort with what I view as a "Seed Faith Giving." This is proposed by many televangelists where you give double and triple tithes so the Lord can bless you and make you rich. I do believe that our Lord does bless a sacrificial tithe. Jesus pointed out the great value in God's eye of the widow's mite given in the midst of her limited resources. She lives in our bible of our example of sacrificial giving. The blessings of our Lord include making our resources go further. Having fewer medical bills or car repairs is the same as having a larger paycheck. When I was pressed out of my job and career of 25 years at the age of 47 I had to put my beliefs to the test. With the loss of my job I received a buyout check. Unemployment was high and lots of managers at my level were already out of work. Most of the available jobs were at 30 to 50% less than I had been making. If I accepted these lower paying jobs I would probably have to sell my home and move someplace less expensive. I feared a spiral into depression and despair. My wife and I sat down and planned out how long it would take before we ran out of money. How long would it take before we used up our cash resources. I left my job in March and we calculated that with limited spending we would run out of money by January. Should we tithe after I found a job or write out a check on my buyout check as soon as I received the money? To further drain our funds I would need a replacement to my old car. My wife surprised me when she said we would put our faith in God and tithe as soon as we received my last check. That took 1-2 months off the date we expected to run out of money. I hoped that our faith would be rewarded with a quick placement in a great good paying job. That's not how the Lord blessed our journey. First we found a car with 42,000 miles on it that a neighbor sold us for $2500. For the next nine months The only job offers I had were for ethically questionable sales jobs or positions that paid less than we could live on. In January when we expected to run out of money I found a good sales and management position. For nine months part time jobs and unemployment had paid about 25% of what I made before my job ended. From my buyout check we had purchased the car for $2500. All of the rest of that buyout check was still in the bank. For nine months there were no car expenses on our old cars. There were no costly home repairs. There were no costly medical expenses. We lived with pressure but felt the assurance and presence of divine protection as we had never experienced that presence. I had seen the end of my career coming for years. The fear I felt before losing my job was far greater than the pain I felt while I was out of work. I learned by this experience that I serve a Lord with the resources to care for my needs. Whet I knew in my head became a lesson that I now knew from my personal walk with Jesus. Bob Berens, Copyright Pending |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright © Love Lines 2007 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
