Here are three pictures of how we can live our lives of faith.
Picture 1- Tip– This is when we throw God the leftovers, what is easy, and the spare change we have in our pockets. We give God the scraps of our time and energy. We toss off a little to God and call it good. It is easy to live this way.
Picture 2- Tithe– This is when we grow aware that God has been good and we want to be generous toward His work in this world. We set aside the first ten percent. We give it with joy. But, once this is done, we see the other 90% as ours. We view time, abilities, and resources as things that belong to us, that we can share with God, if we feel like it.
Picture 3- Total Surrender– This is the journey of truly following Jesus. We don’t toss him the leftovers and scraps like the people did in Malachi chapter 1. We don’t give only ten percent and hold everything else tightly, like it is ours. Total surrender is about putting all of our time, abilities, dreams, resources, relationships, and everything else in the hands of God. This is a life-long journey of surrender and joyful obedience.
Which of these pictures best reflects where you are in your spiritual life right now? Do you tip, tithe, or live with total surrender?