Hi, this is Rich Marshall with GOD TV and I’m so glad to have you with us today on God Today. I want to talk to you about tithing. Years ago, when I was a pastor, there was a couple who came to our church. She was a strong believer. He was not. The only reason he came was that all of his friends came to our church. So I had the privilege of meeting this man, becoming his friend, and speaking into his life long before he came to know the Lord.
One Sunday morning when I was talking before the offering about tithing, he turned and said to his wife loud enough that everybody in the row heard it, “If that man talks about tithing one more time, I’m going to get up and leave.” Well, someone down the row, one of his friends, heard him say that and whispered back to him also loud enough for others to hear it, “Hey, before you get on its case, why don’t you try it? If you haven’t tried tithing, try it before you complain.” That made sense to him so he started tithing.
He came to me and said, “Can I give a testimony at church about tithing?” I said yes. I was not concerned about what he would say but how he would say it. He was one of these guys who all of his life was not redeemed yet. In fact, he’s the only man that ever said to me, “Blank good sermon, Pastor.” You can fill in the blank. I thought, Well, he’s probably got a good testimony but how’s he going to say it? I told him to go ahead and do it.
So he got up and he recounted the story of how he had heard me talk about tithing and how he had said, “If he does it again, I’m going to walk out of the church service.” He said, “Folks, I tried it and it works. And I want to say to you today, if you’re not tithing, that you’re just plain stupid.” It was one of the most powerful testimonies we ever had on giving, and it was given by a man who had just found out, not because of study, but because of practice, tithing really does work.
I’m not going to talk to you today about calling you stupid. I’m just going to say to you today before you complain about the Word of God and its commands on your life, try it. Find out if it really does work. Tithing is one of those things that works. So many of the commands of God may be hard for you. It’s going to work in your life. I encourage you today, just become an obedient Christian.
Let me pray for you today. Father, I know that in our lives there are some commands that are just hard. They seem so difficult. Tithing might be one of those. If we’ve never done it, to think that we could give ten percent to You might stretch us far beyond what we think we can handle, but Your promise is there. We claim it today. Be blessed as you tithe. Be blessed as you obey the Lord. God bless you.