In John 21, the apostles were out fishing all night and caught nothing. When Jesus told them to cast again they must’ve thought, “we the expert fisherman have had no success, but if you say so, we’ll give it a try.” You know how they then caught so many fish they had a hard time dragging their net ashore.

Tithing is like that. We struggle to stay afloat, much less get ahead. God tells us to tithe the first ten percent. We think, ‘that won’t work’. But if we do it in obedience, like the apostle’s re-casting the net, we’ll reap rewards and blessings so that our nets fill to overflowing.

And anyway, it’s not our money.

Doesn’t it seem that in general, the more financially successful we become, the less we feel dependent on God? We tend to credit our own hard work and dedication believing we have achieved so much all by ourselves, instead of it being God’s will.

In Isaiah 26, vs. 12, he confesses God’s importance, “it is you who have accomplished all we have done.”

If we would but realize it is God who gives us our ability to think, work and accomplish and so be rewarded we would then accept the fact that – It’s not our money!

“Come now you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.”

James is very blunt about what will happen to us if we become so comfortable in our wealth that we believe we don’t need God and so we stop seeking His kingdom. Benjamin Franklin said it this way, “A full belly is the mother of all evil.”

What obstacle does our money put before us, hindering our bringing God’s love and compassion to others? Get rid of it! How? By investing in the incorruptible treasures of heaven so that God will then make us vessels of His mercy.

And anyway, It’s not our money!

In 1 Cor. 4, verse 8, Paul tells us we have already grown rich. Not in the way the world measures rich, but God’s ways are not worldly ways.

Since we are rich, our challenge is to use our riches in ways that build God’s kingdom. We have to spend and invest. Our riches do no good for anyone if we hoard them or hide them.

After all, what do we have that we have not received? Having freely received, we are to give freely.

And in any case, It’s Not Our Money!

In the second chapter of Mark, Jesus tells us he came for the sick. Here’s a tough question:
Have we become sick with fear because of our fallen investment values? Have we been ill with independence thinking our 401k’s and bank accounts will provide for us?

Remember in Deuteronomy chapter 8, God tells us that who we are and all that we have are from Him. The prescription now is to turn back to God and be good stewards of all He has given us – time, talent and treasure.

Because after all, it wasn’t our money to begin with.