“On the first day of the week, each of you should set aside some income and save it to the extent that God has blessed you, …. Aquila and Prisca greet you warmly in the Lord, with the church that meets in their house. “ (1Corinthians 16:2,19)
Bishop Desmond Tutu stood up as the key speaker to give the college commencement speech to the graduating class. He walked up to the mic and proclaimed, “It is all a gift! It is all a gift!” And then returned to his seat and sat down.
Everything we have is a blessing. There is nothing that we have that can’t be taken away from us tomorrow. All we have is a gift from God. All our gifts from God are resources to be given back to God and used for the kingdom of God. God’s grace did not bless you with simply 10% of your gifts, He blessed you with ALL of your gifts. Though sadly the average giving by parishioners in the US is 2.4%. For Christian families making less than $20k per year, 8% of them gave at least 10% in tithing. For families making a minimum of $75k or more, the figure drops to just 1%. His grace provided for all of your gifts. The notion that 90% of our gifts and resources are ours, so that 10 percent of our gifts are all we need to give back to God is false, as Paul states, “You are to set aside income to the extent that God has blessed you.” As the hymn states, “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe …”
A major portion of the blessings and where we store up the blessings that God has bestowed upon you and I is our homes and apartments we live in. This major source of our blessing is not meant to be gated and fenced off as “ours” from God’s use but opened up to be used as an outpost of God’s blessings to your neighbors and community as “His.” What percentage of your home, your gift from God to the extent that He has blessed you have you set aside for God? Out of the 168 hours in a week God has blessed you to reside in your home, how many of those hours weekly is your house or apartment open to others and used for God? Used for hosting youth to mentor, after school children’s bible study, accountability groups, a Bible house church, or other ministries for God? What percentage of this time God has blessed you to reside in a comfortable home do you share back to God? 20%, 10%, 5% or 0%. “Aquila and Prisca greet you warmly in the Lord, with the church that meets in their house.” How are you warmly greeting in the Lord others into your home?
My family, I pray you will intentionally discern and plan how you will “tithe” and open up and share your home or apartment, one of your greatest blessing from God, as a place that warmly greets others in the Lord. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I shared my insights and prayers from todays passage with you. Please share your insights and prayers with me and others in the comments box below.
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