MONEY TALKS

I seldom speak of money in this blog and I think this is the first time. This is because there is a recent survey that came out in the United States...

A Christian gives averagely only about 2.56% of their money to churches or any charitable organisations. Although it is still better than general population, who gives about 1.8%, there is nothing to shout about. The survey also said if Christians in US give 10% as inspired by the Bible, the churches would have USD 161 billion to use. That's about RM563 billion! And I am just talking about USA! And only 10%!

The saddest part of all this is that 7 million children under five died since the beginning of this year alone were caused by extreme poverty. Most of these children were from places that had never heard of the Name of Jesus before.

God in His infinite wisdom knew all along that the world has enough resources to feed everyone on earth. But due to our greed and inwardness, we have slackened far behind. I believe in two reasons for God inspiring tithes.

1. God uses tithes (10%) to test our faithfulness. I thank God that He didn't require firstfruits to be 90%. I have seen non-Christians flinched when they found out about tithing to church. If any Christian flinched like them, I wonder whether we are saved? Or really committed to the cause of Christ?

2. God uses tithes to do His work, to heal and feed the world. Sadly, we are still far behind that purpose.

Money is a sensitive issue. We work with our blood, sweat and tears so that we can get a salary to commensurate with the effort we put in. Which means money is part of my life I toil for! It is valuable!

But let us also consider where do we get our strength from in order for us to earn our living or money. From food of course! But where does food come from? Let's talk about bread. Bread was made from wheat and had to be planted by farmers. Wheat comes from God of course! Plants have to grow using water and sunlight also provided by God. So when we go to buy bread, we don't pay for bread itself. Huh? Yaah! We pay the farmers, transportation, baker and retailer! Bread comes from God!

What about our house? Bricks to build our house came from hills and mountains and points us back to God. Did we pay for our house? No! We pay people who collect stones and bricks, transportation, builders and government agencies for the land, also belongs to God!

From food to strength to work to money! It points us back to God! And God only requires 10% from us! As far as God is concerned, everything that we have belongs to God!

We are living in a world of selfishness. Let us Christians show the way of generosity! God blesses generous people! I have experienced that myself. When I was stingy, my pocket like got holes. But when I was generous, God blessed me in ways I could not imagine.

PS Don't expect money in return when you give to God. Sometimes God blesses us with good health and peace of mind and many other ways.