Proverbs 3:9-10 says Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Brethren wether or not we believe in tithing, first fruits or special offerings, we cannot deny the Word of God when it speaks. I was meditating on this verse and felt like sharing. There are some principles in the Word that transcend the Mosaic Law, the Old Testament and even the New Testament. Giving to God is one way of honoring God. I am convinced that when we love God, we will not be lost in the debates about whether tithing or first fruit offerings are still required in this dispensation. I tithe to honor God, I give a first fruit offering because I love God and it is honorable to give Him the first of what He has blessed me with. It has nothing to do with what my Pastor or my church thinks.

When we understand that God owns everyone of us and the whole earth that we live in, it truly changes our perspective. This means that nothing in essence belongs to us regardless of how hard we may think we have worked to earn what we have. God simply allows us to have earthly things for a period of time. It therefore behooves us to give not just the first fruit and not just the tithe but as much as God may direct us to give at any time. If I make you a guardian of my estate, surely I can ask you to give to others from my estate at any time in any value I desire. When we execute financially or in kind as directed by the Holy Spirit, it will surpass the first fruit and tithe. When God sees that we obey financially, he opens the floodgates of resources and we become a channel through which God provides so both we and others can be blessed.

Psalms 24:1-2 The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods.

Giving to God out of what we produce is the gift that keeps giving. Apart from my love for God being the reason for giving generously, I noticed that God makes us a promise. He says if I honor Him this way, “then your barns will be filled with plenty”. Could it be that some of us are suffering lack because we have not understood this Biblical principle of honor through our finances? I have grown to love God such that even if He did not bless me in return, I will still give of my self and of my produce but how much more when He has promised to give me so much more? I don’t know about you but I definitely want my vats bursting with wine! This is a promise of an overflow, of fruitfulness, of abundance, of the type of productivity that yields results beyond what we worked for, pressed down shaken together and running over. It is a promise of getting more than I need such that there is enough to be a blessing to others because I have an overflow, I have extra. Aaah the mathematics of God is fascinating and I could not keep this to myself. Do you catch the revelation? Your act of honor with your first fruits is simply a loving father’s way of bringing you and I into an inheritance beyond what we can produce for ourselves. Boy oh boy, let me go find an offering to give!

For years many church leaders have taught the people how to use Jesus as a means to their own selfish ends. We have taught people to come to Jesus as a way of getting things and not as a way of giving and sacrificing of ourselves like Jesus did on the cross. We have built a church worldwide filled with majority of believers who don’t know how to love God and love fellow brethren. We are on a race for who will amass the most materially and gain the biggest anointing to show others what God has done for us. When all is said and done, it was about me myself and I all along wanting to place Mr, Mrs or Miss Ego on the throne. As a pastor, my heart bleeds for the church. We church leaders must repent for misleading the flock and pray for the wisdom to know how to reorient the people of God back to God and away from the desperation for material aggrandizement. Ask yourself today:
If Jesus never blesses me can I still love Him?
Can I sacrifice my all for the sake of the Kingdom even when it is not comfortable?
Can I stay in that Church or ministry to build rather than tear down even when I don’t get my way?
Can I give my gift of singing, playing instruments, preaching, prophesying, healing, administration to the church or ministry for free even when I am in hardship?
Can I serve God and His people even when I don’t understand why God has not answered my own prayers?
Can I intercede for my enemies instead of praying “die by fire” warfare prayers so they can be transformed and brought into the kingdom?

I could go on but let the Holy Spirit put a check in your spirit today and reveal the selfishness in your service to God. Jesus is coming soon and we must preach the undiluted gospel that points people to Jesus and not to houses, cars, life’s luxuries, personal comfort and the many lusts of the world. Blessings are good and Jesus came that we would have life abundantly but above all else, true life is in Christ alone and not is the religion called materialism!