Numbers 18:21 *I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting*
*BE KINGDOM MINDED IN YOUR GIVING*
After all that is said and done, I come to you with my final admonition on this subject today. The centre of our lives is our maker and owner. He owns us completely. All that we are and have is for Him.
Psalm 100:3 says, *"Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture*".
Arguing unnecessarily on a percentage to be given to God denies the truth about His place in our lives- He owns us and our money 100%. In His graciousness, He has only given us the liberty to decide how&what we should give except in rare occasions when He makes a demand for all.
To a being who is so merciful and gracious, what he deserves is WORSHIP&HONOUR. Your life must worship and honour Him. When worship becomes your lifestyle, your giving will flow in that direction as well. That is the biblical perspective to giving not transaction.
Further, our God has a kingdom where He reigns and rules. The purpose of His kingdom is to reign and rule in the hearts of men. He wants to be the Lord and master over all souls that exist in the world.
The way He seeks to expand His kingdom is through missions and evangelism. The more we engage in missions, the more His kingdom expands as men accept His Lordship. This is the biblical kingdom expansion that I know.
To expand His kingdom, He wants our giving to go in that direction. If we'll be sincere, It takes more than 10% of our finances to expand God's kingdom. It takes generosity to achieve His kingdom expansion agenda in our time. The task of kingdom expansion (world evangelization) is very expensive.
One reason I do not get myself involved in arguments about tithing is because I have come to realize that those who do are tools in the hands of Satan to stop the flow of finances towards the cause of kingdom expansion. Over the years, missions&evangelism have thrived on the giving of God's people.
They come out as woke or intellectuals but they cannot discern the purpose of what they are arguing against and refuting. Babies in the faith may hear such arguments and withhold their giving. This is what some have done. Why? They heard an imbalanced argument. They don't know the transtestamental principle&purposes behind tithing because what they heard is one-sided.
Just imagine that all believers worldwide are faithful in tithing (at least) and the churches that receive them use it to pursue kingdom expansion agenda of missions&world evangelization whilst not forgetting the welfare of the preachers who labour and the poor as it was in the early church, by now, we would have covered the earth.
Finally my brethren, in matters of tithing and generous giving which is a higher form of giving, think of it in terms of worship&purposes. Give as an expression of worship and to meet kingdom expansion needs. I call you blessed.
Father, help me to worship you with all that I have and help me to be a kingdom minded giver who gives to expand God's kingdom.