A few years ago, we received a $3,600 TITHE donation to our ministry (Adopt a Minister International) from a 94-year-old woman with a note: “Tithe money for salaries of pastors only. It is a little more than usual.” This sponsor sends a yearly donation. NOTE: We have been doing our ministry – Adopt a Minister International – with NO PAY for us – for 24 years now. Every dollar donation goes to the Lord’s work.
My Mother, Lucena Lachica, was very faithful in giving her tithe. Before each Sabbath came, she has already set aside her tithe and offering money. When she lived in Louisiana in the early 90’s, she was already in her 70’s and was receiving only a small social security check. Since she no longer worked, she did not think she had to pay tithe. But one day, she had a dream. In the dream, she saw a small, bright light from afar off, and this light seemed to be coming toward her. She was puzzled at what it was. Some minutes later, the bright light was in front of her and from the light, a hand extended. And guess what the hand held. A tithe envelope. “I didn’t know that I still have to pay tithe,” she said. Her voice was anxious, as if truly remorseful of her negligence.
Growing up in a Christian home, I always knew that giving tithe is very important and that tithe is holy to the Lord. Leviticus 27: 30 – 32 says: “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.” Tithe doesn’t belong to the giver but belongs to the Lord.
What is tithe? Tithe is the giving of a tenth of one’s income as an offering to God. Abraham was the first man ever recorded in the Bible to give tithes to God. In Genesis 14, Abraham’s victory in battle led him to pay tithes. He was not paying a financial debt but offering a gratitude of praise and thanks to God with his tithes. Abraham was not obliged but moved to give tithes.
God rewards faithful tithe payers:
My story….In the early 70’s when I first started working, I always gave my tithe. Times were difficult then. I didn’t have much left after paying for rent and sending money to my parents back home in the Philippines. One day I needed to renew my car insurance but did not have the funds. I had to wait until the following month when I have a little extra from working overtime. Instead of driving, I walked over a fence and walked 3 blocks to work.
But I never missed paying my tithe. One day while going through my bagful of junk mail before discarding them, a letter caught my eye. I quickly opened the envelope. There was a check from the car insurance company for the same amount that I had mailed to them 6 months earlier. The letter said: “We are sending you back the amount of (—-). Sorry, because of incorrect information, your car insurance has been cancelled. You may contact us with the correct information.”
I was quite scared. I’ve been driving without car insurance for 6 months! I called the company and told them about the check. I was told the check was still good and so I used the amount to get another 6 months of car insurance. Indeed, God has been so good!
Bring the first fruits…
Here at home, my husband JR pays tithe on the last week of the month. I did not think anything was wrong with it since I know he pays tithe faithfully.
But one day it occurred to me that maybe we should pay our tithe on the first week of the month. Deuteronomy 26:9-12 says: “He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me.” So, I suggested for him to pay our tithe during the first week, and he did.
A week later I didn’t think that something wonderful would happen. First, my car had a flat on the same tire that had a flat a month before. I took it to the shop and when I was ready to pay for it, the manager said, “NO CHARGE.” It was not that much money saved, but I was grateful.
A few days later, the air conditioner of our second car went out and at a time when we were experiencing heatwave all over the south. We didn’t want to take it to the car dealership since it could be costly, but we pray for everything and JR felt impressed to take it to the dealership instead.
When JR picked up the car, the manager said, “NO CHARGE! There’s a Manufacturer RECALL on this model.”
It could have caused us a lot of money to have both cars fixed but remember God’s promise? He said that He will prevent the devourer from destroying what we have. These are just two examples of how faithful God is when we are also faithful to Him.
During difficult times, a tithe-giving person might get tempted not to give tithe. But let us remember that the giving of tithes is an offering that demonstrates our acceptance of God as our Lord. It is a way of saying thank you to Him.
Malachi 3: 8 – 11 Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 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. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty.