Tithing

     I have listened to testimonies from people on The 700 Club who were struggling with so much debt they could see no way out; yet, they decided to tithe.  By placing God first, they began to see changes.  Their lives and their fiances did a turnaround.
     I was reminded of these testimonies as I studied our church Sunday school lesson.  Haggai tells us how God's people were building homes for themselves and neglecting the rebuilding of God's house.  God finally told them to "Think carefully about your ways:  You have planted much but harvested little.  You eat but never have enough to be satisfied.  You drink but never have enough to be happy.  You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm.  The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole."    
     Do you ever feel like that?  Yet, are we willing to place enough faith in God to give Him His fair share of what we earn?  What steps of faith are we willing to take in order to live for God's glory and see fruit being produced in our lives.  God has the ability to blow away all our hard work, and what we have to remember is that it all belongs to Him in the first place.
     We might ask, "Why does God ask for a title?"  I believe Deuteronomy 14:23 provides the answer.  The King James version states, "that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God."  The Living Bible version states it like this, "The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives."