Godsloveandlaw's Blog

In Mark 12:41-44 we read —

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Here we see that our King not only commended this poor lady for giving all she had as her tithe but wanted the disciples to witness this great thing! Contrarily, we notice the Lord did not tell her to “don’t worry about it, you are so poor and you need that little bit left for you to live on”. No, tithe returning is SO IMPORTANT and this lesson is a great one! Let us look more into this.

A while back, a sister in the faith and myself were having a conversation. It soon turned to tithes. I asked her what she was doing with her tithe situation and her fellow brethren. For disclosure, she lives in a  very poor African country. She had been a fellow member of a certain present truth organization. The leader of that organization, she said, told her “don’t worry about it”. In other words, he was telling her she and her fellow brethren don’t have much and to save it for their own needs. Wow!

When I heard that I about fell off my chair! Thoughts of the little old lady story ran through my head. I told her that didn’t sound right but at the time I didn’t have much of alternative options to tell her. Time has certainly revealed much in this regard.

Another brother whom we’ll call bro. John has been a long-time brother in the faith. He, too, lives in a very poor country in Africa. However, he has progressed with the truth and advanced forward in “following the Lamb wheresoever He goes” (Rev. 14:4).  as such the Lord’s voice has spoken to Him and he hears it! The subject of returning the tithes made brother John a conscientious “doer”. 

We read of the Lord’s contract in Mal. 3:10 —

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”

A contract requires two or more people to do something, but BOTH must perform. In this case, the Lord is asking any and all to return tithes to “My house” — His storehouse. If one party does not keep the bargain then the contract becomes null and void –useless.

But unlike the sister, brother John has decided to enter the contract. But the important thing is, just as the little old lady was very poor and still kept her faithfulness, brother John likewise is poor yet has not kept the tithe but returned it as the contract requires. Now he joyfully awaits the bountiful blessing GUARANTEED by the Lord!

The final message of Elijah does not tread lightly on this topic as we read —

“IS SMALL INCOME TITHE EXEMPT?

Question No. 158:

As my income is very small, am I not exempt from paying tithe?

Answer:

God designed the plan of systematic benevolence so as to make it as equitable to the poor as to the rich, no more a tax on the mite than on the million. And we know of no Scriptural authority for exempting from tithe any income, however small. All, poor as well as rich, are given the privilege of returning to the Lord His own. Many with a “mite” income are paying both first and second tithe, and in return are receiving a rich bestowal of blessing.

Thus reason forces the conclusion that if one is not obliged to receive charity help in addition to his income (whatever its source) to cover his living expenses, then for him not to pay tithe is to cheat Himself of the abundant blessing which attends a faithful regard for the royal privilege of being one of God’s stewards. “(Answerer, vol. 5, p.86-87)

In summary, the poor can indeed enter into this tithe program and expect to reap the rewards, they just have to begin and not procrastinate. Why not take up the Lord’s challenge — “try Me on this”?     


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This entry was posted on January 14, 2023 at 5:29 am and is filed under Tithes and Offerings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.