DAILY DEVOTIONAL – May 22, 2020
“Less is More“
Prayer: Gracious Lord, at Christ’s expense You have given us the eternal riches of heaven. You have promised to care for our every need and work all things together for our good. By Your power and Spirit, Lord, help us realize the priceless and infinite wealth we have in You so that we may not be enslaved to the empty riches of this world, but instead give freely because we have received abundantly from Your hand. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Scripture: Proverbs 11:24-25
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.
Devotional – “Less is More”
One of the areas pastors find most difficult to preach and teach on is that of finances and tithing. Preaching on tithing is not difficult because Scripture is unclear or confusing. God’s Word is crystal clear when it comes to God’s command to tithe and the immeasurable blessings that can only be received from God when we entrust to Him what we tend to care most about. Preaching on tithing is difficult because money is so deeply intertwined with trust, and by nature as sinful people, we don’t do that very well. There is a tendency to think that spirituality and money are exclusive from one another, but I have learned and experienced the opposite. One of the most deeply transformational spiritual exercises we can engage in, is entrusting our treasures to the Lord.
This past week I ran across a fascinating article in the New York Times. As soon as I read it, the words from our Proverbs text today echoed through my head. Here is what the article said:
For decades, surveys have shown that upper-income Americans don’t give away as much of their money as they might and are particularly undistinguished as givers when compared with the poor, who are strikingly generous. A number of other studies have shown that lower-income Americans give proportionally more of their incomes to charity than do upper-income Americans. Independent Sector, a nonprofit organization focused on charitable giving, found that households earning less than $25,000 a year gave away an average of 4.2 percent of their incomes; those with earnings of more than $75,000 gave away 2.7 percent.
The various studies suggest that there is a “compassion” deficit that exists amongst America’s affluent, the idea being that the less “need” we ourselves have, the less we identify with those who actually do have need.
When we truly understand all that we have been given by God in the blood of His Son, when we by faith understand that the Almighty God of the Universe who created all things and sustains all things has promised to care for our every need, and when we are filled with His Word and Spirit, that is when we realize an important and freeing paradox. We have nothing and have always had nothing, and yet, we have eternally more than we could ever imagine. This article brings to real life the perfect truth of Jesus’ words in Luke 16:10-13, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
In the end my friends, God doesn’t need our money. The need is ours. Our soul needs God, all of God, and the more we withhold from Him the more we deprive ourselves of the wealth and fulfillment we really long for – an unhindered relationship with our Lord and God Jesus Christ.
As the famous hymn chorus says, we are free to give all of what we have because:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Thanks for joining me for another time in God’s Word, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
