Prov 8:32 [ESV] And now O sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.
Tithing is a classic for me – even now after 36 years of following after God, I can still find myself asking myself if the bible really teaches us the principle of tithing. At its heart, it’s a trust issue – “did God really say…..”
I like something that Bear Grylls said once – he talked about doing difficult things, especially eating bugs etc. He said, “I don’t spend time thinking about it, I just step in and do it”.
That’s my approach to tithes and offerings – God said it, I’m going to do it, even when my natural feelings want me to debate it, I’m not going to do that.
I love God and his ways, He is my only hope. I’m going to do my best to walk in all his ways (not just with cash) each day, and stay close to His forgiveness for when I fail in my commission and omission (and I do).
KNOWLEDGE
To keep God’s ways requires a few things – one, we know who God is, two, we listen to all he says, and three, we actually do what he tells us to.
To listen is one thing, but to listen with the intention to obey is another altogether.
I think perhaps James says it best – James 1:22 [ESV] but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
So we can deceive ourselves – who would have known that?
UNDERSTANDING
Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?
The word used for “listen” here, is pronounced as “sama” in Hebrew, and carries the meaning “to hear, to listen, to obey, to summon, and to proclaim”.
The LXX uses άκουέ [akoue] – “hear”. This word appears four hundred and thirty times in the New Testament. That statistic alone should maybe cause me to stop and listen more.
WISDOM
Develop a culture of reading God’s word with a preconceived intention to obey it at its simplest form of love.
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Empathy as a Gallup Strength hears the emotions without words, asks the right questions at the right time with the right tone, bringing value, respect and appreciation to others. Don’t allow your empathy to become sympathy and to talk you out of difficult decisions.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version – And now my darling child listen and obey my voice: blessed and joyful are those who observe and guard my ways of life.
And now, O sons – And now my darling child
listen to me – listen and obey my voice:
blessed are those – blessed and joyful are those
who keep – who observe and guard
my ways – my ways of life.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to always be open to hearing from you and responding with Amen.
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