Day 5, or January the 5th. All to Jesus I surrender, all to him I freely give. Our thought
today is rooted in Genesis chapter 14 verse 20. Then Abraham gave him a tenth of everything.
First the big picture surrounding this verse. Abraham finally settles in the promised land
with his wife Sarah and their nephew Lot. It quickly becomes obvious that the land will
not be big enough for both Abraham and Lot, so it is divided between these two potential
nations. This confirms why God told Abraham to leave his relatives behind before entering
the promised land, but being a doting uncle he thought he was doing the best by looking
after his nephew Lot. The land was a gift from God. But when it is divided, Lot greedily
takes the best portion and leaves the part he doesn't fancy for his uncle Abraham. Abraham
is grateful to God for the rest of his life, and is the first person in the Bible to give
a regular part of his income back to God. It is called a tithe or a tenth. Meanwhile,
Lot slips away and ultimately finishes up with nothing of real value, but Abraham gets
all that God has promised, and he thrives in the promised land.
And our action step for today. I think one of the most misused criticisms of the church
today is seeing it as always asking for money. When tithing or the giving of a tenth is brought
up, many believers react by saying that they are New Testament believers, not Old Testament
ones. It's true that the concept of tithing is an Old Testament one, but in the New Testament
it is superseded in the early church, where Acts chapter 4 verse 32 reminds us, All the
believers were united in heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their
own, so they shared everything they had. This news usually makes tithing a very attractive
option. However, Abraham's tithe was a tenth of everything, not just money. I believe tithing
is a minimum, but let's not limit it to money. What about time? What about our talents? Need
I go on? Remember, God allows us to retain 90% of our wealth, but even then we need to
use it wisely as a good steward.