There is a very common phrase that goes "love the giver, not the gift". It is usually applied by Christians explaining their relationship to God. It's not about His blessings they say, it is about Him. But is it really?
We sort of tripped upon this issue again when discussing the concept of tithing. From Malachi 310-12:
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.
We're not really supposed to test the Lord, unless of course, he allows us to do so as in this case. And His promises are staggering: Not enough room for storage, fortress-like security against evil and a good reputation amongst others.
Which leads to the question: do you tithe to receive these blessings, or do you tithe simply because God invites you to do so? The "Christian" answer would say that we tithe because we love God. At most, we tithe to "test" Him, since He legitimately allows us to do so. To say we tithe to receive these blessings carries the impression that we are materialistic wealth and health-chasers.
However, I would say that when you love God, you can have confident expectation of His blessings. In other words, God and blessings cannot be separated. Sure, we love God above all else and we want to get to know Him more each day. And one way of knowing Him is through the blessings that he floods us with each day. I think we are robbing ourselves trying to be self-righteous by saying that "I love God unconditionally" full-stop. It sounds humble and zen and cool and calm to say that nothing else matters. But I do think that as Christians, we can have the right to claim the promises of God because blessings are His nature.
So why do I tithe? Because I love God AND I know that He will honour what He promises in His Word. So yes, it is important to put the giver before the gift. But it is also important to remember that the gift is very much part of the giver. Try telling a pre-believer why He should believe in Jesus. You cant convince Him unless you tell him that believing in Jesus brings other promises and blessings: eternal life, life abundant, security (good shepherd), living water, etc. So the giver and the gift are hyphenated together into a single entity. They are not to be separated. Jehovah-Jireh is not two separate words. It is not "the God who provides", which implies that perhaps maybe there are times where he might not provide. No, Jehovah-Jireh means Jehovah who is my Jireh. God who is my Provider. The provision is in Him. When I have God by my side, I have the Provision because that is what He is.
I think many Christians, even the well-meaning ones, try to downplay the blessings of God. Love God first! they say. And they are absolutely right. But if you're going to love God, then you're also going to look forward to the blessings that come with loving Him. We don't love Him to earn His favour, and that hopefully, He may sprinkle some blessing here and there. As the song says "I will worship you for who you are". The passage in Malachi has already established that He is a pretty generous God hasn't it? Shall we not worship Him for that is what He is like?
The last verse of my favourite Psalm says "Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life". I read somewhere "follow me" is actually a rather mild translation of the original text. A more accurate phrase would be "hunt me down relentlessly". And just as how the US spared no expense in doing the same to Osama (and hence placing the US Treasury in debt, a problem God will never face), how much more would God do the same for us?
We sort of tripped upon this issue again when discussing the concept of tithing. From Malachi 310-12:
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.
We're not really supposed to test the Lord, unless of course, he allows us to do so as in this case. And His promises are staggering: Not enough room for storage, fortress-like security against evil and a good reputation amongst others.
Which leads to the question: do you tithe to receive these blessings, or do you tithe simply because God invites you to do so? The "Christian" answer would say that we tithe because we love God. At most, we tithe to "test" Him, since He legitimately allows us to do so. To say we tithe to receive these blessings carries the impression that we are materialistic wealth and health-chasers.
However, I would say that when you love God, you can have confident expectation of His blessings. In other words, God and blessings cannot be separated. Sure, we love God above all else and we want to get to know Him more each day. And one way of knowing Him is through the blessings that he floods us with each day. I think we are robbing ourselves trying to be self-righteous by saying that "I love God unconditionally" full-stop. It sounds humble and zen and cool and calm to say that nothing else matters. But I do think that as Christians, we can have the right to claim the promises of God because blessings are His nature.
So why do I tithe? Because I love God AND I know that He will honour what He promises in His Word. So yes, it is important to put the giver before the gift. But it is also important to remember that the gift is very much part of the giver. Try telling a pre-believer why He should believe in Jesus. You cant convince Him unless you tell him that believing in Jesus brings other promises and blessings: eternal life, life abundant, security (good shepherd), living water, etc. So the giver and the gift are hyphenated together into a single entity. They are not to be separated. Jehovah-Jireh is not two separate words. It is not "the God who provides", which implies that perhaps maybe there are times where he might not provide. No, Jehovah-Jireh means Jehovah who is my Jireh. God who is my Provider. The provision is in Him. When I have God by my side, I have the Provision because that is what He is.
I think many Christians, even the well-meaning ones, try to downplay the blessings of God. Love God first! they say. And they are absolutely right. But if you're going to love God, then you're also going to look forward to the blessings that come with loving Him. We don't love Him to earn His favour, and that hopefully, He may sprinkle some blessing here and there. As the song says "I will worship you for who you are". The passage in Malachi has already established that He is a pretty generous God hasn't it? Shall we not worship Him for that is what He is like?
The last verse of my favourite Psalm says "Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life". I read somewhere "follow me" is actually a rather mild translation of the original text. A more accurate phrase would be "hunt me down relentlessly". And just as how the US spared no expense in doing the same to Osama (and hence placing the US Treasury in debt, a problem God will never face), how much more would God do the same for us?
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