Ark Valley News - Hope and hilarity

Hope and hilarity
By Chuck Terrill
Last Updated: December 14, 2017

It pays you to tithe

I was happy to get to spend some time with my oldest granddaughter at Thanksgiving. She will graduate from college in May. She had her boyfriend, Reece, home for the holiday, so it was a delight to spend some time with him, too.

Ellana told me she and Reece had visited a few churches, but hadn't decided on one to call home. She had a story to tell me about one of the churches they had visited, though.

“The sermon that day was on tithing," Ellana began.

“Oh no," I thought to myself. “Visitors always think the church is just after money." Of course, we all know that is not true.

“On the way to the restaurant after church," Ellana continued, “Reece asked me what I think about tithing. I told him I really didn't think it was fair. I reminded Reece how hard it was to be working our way through college. I told him that I work hard for my money and need it more than God does."

“Well, he set me straight on that right away," she said. “He told me he was a tither."

Reece nodded his head in the affirmative.

“Then Reece told me that Malachi, the prophet, told Israel that their crops failed because they didn't tithe," she said of Malachi 3:10-12. “Because the children of God didn't tithe, a whole bunch of calamities came upon them. But, if they did tithe, they would be prosperous. God said that they should test him in the matter of the tithe, and they would see that he would open the floodgates of heaven and would pour out blessings on them. Their crops would not fail, and insects would leave their crops alone. As it was, the whole nation was under a curse because they had not tithed."

I told her I agreed with Malachi, and I was glad Reece had pointed this lesson out to her.

“Lesson? I'll tell you about the lesson I learned," said Ellana.

“When we got to the restaurant, I forgot that my smartphone was on my lap. I stood up and when it fell on the asphalt, it shattered. After lunch we took it to the Apple Store. Guess how much it cost to fix it, Grandpa? It cost, to the penny, what my tithe should have been if I would have left it at that little Baptist church."

“What do you think about tithing, now?" I asked.

“It might be a pretty good thing to do," Ellana answered.

Reece and I smiled and nodded our heads, “Yes!"

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38)

Chuck Terrill is pastor of Valley Center Christian Church. Reach him at chuck@vcchristian.church or at 755-1233.