Tithing Legacy

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. ..." says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
-Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

GRANDMA was a widow who raised my dad and his six siblings on a meager income. She did this while modeling the discipline of tithing. She once testified to me, "God never failed to take care of me and mine."

As a teenager, I asked Dad why he tithed. He told me about Grandma's mason jar. "Ten percent of what your grandma earned doing laundry for others and the small amount we kids made from paper routes and from delivering the finished laundry went into that jar."

"How did the rest of the money stretch for the things you needed?"

He answered, "We didn't need to stretch our earnings because the Lord multiplied them."

I'm grateful my grandmother taught her children to tithe. I'm thankful that Dad helped me understand that the Lord will multiply whatever we give and use it to enrich others' lives as well as our own.


Prayer
Praise you, Lord, the God of truth and boundless supply, for the privilege of tithing. Amen.



From: UpperRoom Devotionals - Jane Owen