An unbelieving friend of mine has made this comment to me on several occasions: “It seems every time I attend a church service, all the pastor talks about is giving money.”

Now, I doubt this is true and my friend is most likely just trying to build a case for him not being a regular attender at services on Sunday, but it does raise a question: Is God really interested in the way people handle money, whether it’s giving at church or to any other “worthy” cause?

[Deuteronomy 26.1-19]

26.1 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.

5 “And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7 Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. 11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. 18 And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, 19 and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

[ WHAT ] is this passage saying and what is a key truth or thought that we learn?

+ The particular offering described in vv. 1-11 may be a special offering, gifts given just in celebration of entering the Promised Land, and entirely separate from the annual tithe that was expected from all Israelites as outlined in Numbers 18 and Deuteronomy 14. What is tithing and what’s your view on its practice today? How about giving special gifts to the Lord in celebration of a particular blessing bestowed by Him? Is this just an Old Testament “ritual” or is it something followers of Jesus should continue today? Read 2 Corinthians 9. Would you call yourself a cheerful or a reluctant giver? Why? What can you do to change?

+ The yearly tithe was given to fund the Levites in their priestly work for the nation of Israel. The particular tithe described in vv. 12-15 is a little different. What is different and for what purpose? What are the people commanded to say? Why?

+ I remember a wise pastor once saying, “You can tell a lot about a person’s faith in God by examining their checkbook”. Discuss this statement with your group or with another trusted follower of Jesus.

+ Imagine yourself as an Israelite on the precipice of entering the Promised Land, listening to Moses as he is speaking vv. 16-19. How are your feeling? How would you respond in actions and behavior? Read these words over yourself as you start EVERY DAY and see if it helps in your pursuit of holy living in a fallen world!!!

[ HOW ] is the Lord calling me to action/obedience?

+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

+ We are reminded each week at the Gathering that we should strive to be firstfruit givers. I thought I knew what that meant. I supposed we should be giving to the Lord as a first priority. This would demonstrate a real step of faith on our part because we are not sure if any other money would be coming in after we gave to the Lord. I guess this is true at some level. But then I read a devotional on 1 Corinthians 15.20 where Paul states “But in fact, Christ HAS been raised, the FIRSTFRUITS of those who have fallen asleep”. Listen to this commentary of this verse by Charles Hodge:

“As the first sheaf off the harvest presented to God as a thank offering was a PLEDGE and ASSURANCE of the ingathering of the WHOLE harvest, so the resurrection of Christ is a PLEDGE and PROOF of the resurrection of His people.”

So, what firstfruits giving really means is we give to Him in accordance with His commands, we trust He will keep His Word where He GUARENTEES a harvest back to us!!! It puts a whole different perspective on this verse:

[Malachi 3:10] 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean the blessing will be financial, but we can trust that the Lord WILL provide for our NEEDS, not necessarily our WANTS!!!

[Luke 12:27-31] 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

+ Lord, forgive us for showing weak faith when it comes to financially giving as you command. You prove over and over again that you can be trusted to keep your promises as outlined in Your Word. You are a covenant keeping God!!! Amen

God not only wants us to give, but to give with the right heart.

Right giving is done according to God’s Word.

Right giving is done within the context of a whole life of obedience.

Right giving genuinely sets aside what is to be given unto the LORD.

Right giving is not done superstitiously.

Right giving is done with the expectation of blessing,

and all giving done with the right heart, is a proper way to worship before the LORD your God.

David Guzik, 2018, Enduring Word Commentary on Deuteronomy 26

[ WHO ] am I walking with and praying for to discover Jesus?

+ What is my next step?