Give, not as a debt you owe but as a seed you sow.
Malachi 3:10 NCV
"Bring to the storehouse a full tenth of what you earn so there will be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord All-Powerful. "I will open the windows of heaven for you and pour out all the blessings you need."
Jesus changed the Old Testament custom of receiving and then giving, to giving first that you might receive [Luke 6:38]. Jesus teaches you to give, not as a debt you owe but as a seed you sow.
Seed-giving as emphasized by Jesus is different from tithing in that you give before you have received, not after. In tithing you give one tenth of your income to God after you have earned it. It is a debt you owe. This is why so many people give in a perfunctory way, without any joy.
Jesus mentioned tithing once...and He commended it [Matthew 23:23]. But He indicated that there is a higher form of giving based on the New Testament Covenant which He brought--giving, not as a debt you owe but as a seed you sow. Your giving is a seed you sow first to meet the needs of others, which God then multiplies back in a miracle-harvest to meet your own personal needs. [See 1 Kings 17:8-16 for an illustration of this principle concerning a woman and her needs being met.] Seed-Faith Scriptures with personal Commentary by Oral Roberts in 1972.
Dorothy:
I believe this is not an accident that I came up with this devotion. This morning it has touched my heart to understand the new principle of Jesus' way of sowing before you receive anything. Why? It hurts if we do that. The money is too low to give so we wait for our source of income first and then we will give tithes. So we don't feel broken up about giving. God still bless, but Jesus is offering a greater way to get out of that "habit", we give because we "OWE GOD TITHES". So now, it is something to think about. You might have to read it over and over until Holy Spirit opens up the understanding of what Jesus is trying to tell us. It reminds me of a song about sowing and the title is "Bringing in the Sheaves."
Sowing in the morning, Sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,
Fearing neither clouds nor winter's chilling breeze;
By and by the harvest, and the labor ended,
We shall come rejoining, bringing in the sheaves.
Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master,
Tho' the loss sustained our spirit often grieves;
When our weeping's over, He will bid us welcome,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
[Lyrics:K.Shaw; Music:G.Minor]
