#DailyDevotion If You Are A Son Everything He Has Is Yours And Vice Versa
October 16th
Read Deut 14:1–2, 22–23, 28–29; 15:1–15
Deu 14:1-2 “You are the sons of the LORD your God….(2) For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth…28″At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. (29) And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
There is a lot not read in today’s lesson so go ahead and read the clipped out parts if you have time. Verses one and two are really key to understanding all that follows. If what follows sounds hard or impossible then you need to go back to verses one and two. What does the Lord say to the Israelites? You are the sons of the Lord. You are a people holy to the Lord. You are his treasured possession. That simply is some awesome news. The rest of the gods of the earth have people drag themselves to them to be served by those people. The Lord God, the Living God, seeks out a people that He might serve them. He makes them His own and makes great and wonderful promises. The tithe mentioned here did not just go church. It was Mardi Gras (without the immorality). A tithe of the crops and a tithe of the animals were gathered together in the place the Lord would designate and in that place they would have a big party. The Levites would be invited, the poor, the widow, the foreigner also. Everyone would eat, drink and have their fill. It was offered to the Lord, but He doesn’t need it. These persons did. So it was a big bbq with all the trimmings. Now a offering a tithe was an act of trust. It was one tenth of whatever the Lord had blessed you with. A tenth represented offering to the Lord EVERYTHING. Offering it showed you trusted the Lord to provide you with more and He did promise to bless those who offered it in faith.
Another act of faith in the Lord who had called them out from all the peoples of the earth to be His people was the year of release. Every seven years, all debts were canceled. If you weren’t paid back by then or worse you loaned a great deal the six year, you could lose some serious coin. But the Lord said, “Don’t hold back. Remember how I released you from the land of affliction. Now you do likewise.” If they trusted the Lord when they did this, He promised to bless them in all they did. Giving liberally to the poor, the Levites, the widows, the foreigners, and those enslaved or indebted to us showed they believe that the Lord had done this for them.
Well how about you? As Christians we have no command to tithe, no command to release slaves or loans owed to us. Jesus has called you from all the people of the world to be His holy people, His treasured possession through baptism. He has released you from His debt to Him by your sins by paying for them Himself with His blood. He has released you from the fear of death and the power of the devil by His death and resurrection. If you believe this, take care of poor out your pocket, pay your pastor, and forgive those who sin against you.
Lord Jesus Christ, grant us your Holy Spirit and faith that we may love others as you have loved us. Help us to trust you and give liberally from all the good things you give us. Amen.