Dear Northside
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.” (Malachi 3:8)
God doesn’t need your money. Let that sink in for a moment. The Creator of the universe, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, doesn’t need your tithe to keep the lights on. So why does He ask for it?
Because He wants your trust.
Tithing isn’t about money. It’s about lordship. It’s about who comes first in your life. When you give God the first fruits of what you earn, before you pay your bills, before you buy your groceries, before you treat yourself, you’re making a declaration: “God, You are first. I trust You with my whole life, starting with my wallet.”
This is where obedience begins. Not in grand gestures or dramatic sacrifices, but in the consistent, regular habit of putting God first. It’s in these small acts of trust that we build the muscle of surrender. Every time you choose to honour God with your first fruits, you’re training your heart to believe that He is trustworthy, that He will provide, that He is Lord.
The Israelites were robbing God, not because He needed their money, but because they were robbing themselves of the opportunity to trust Him. They were choosing to rely on their own provision rather than His faithfulness. And in doing so, they missed out on the blessing of seeing God show up.
Obedience isn’t the end goal. It’s the starting point. It’s the foundation upon which generosity is built. You can’t be generous with what you haven’t first learned to surrender. And you learn to surrender by practising obedience in the small things, like tithing and giving, like showing up, like saying ‘yes’ when God asks.
Reflection
Are you consistently giving God your first fruits, or are you giving Him what’s left over? What would it look like to build a habit of trust by putting Him first this week?
“And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.” (2 Corinthians 8:5)
The past few months have been busy. And then I look forward and see that August is very busy. We need every hand on deck! Where are you involved?
I will be away for the next 2 weeks playing in the Zimbabwe Over50s Hockey team in the Masters World Cup in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Please pray for me, for physical health but also to be salt and light. Thank you
Did you know that all these articles in the bulletin can be found on our church webpage at this address: Pastor’s Blog – Northside Community Church
God bless, Pastor Gary