Good Monday morning! Decades after the Titanic disaster, the pieces of evidence came together to tell much of the complete story. Metallurgy, deep-sea diving and recovery, and methods of underwater location, came together to allow the site to be found and examined. The decisions that turned out badly and the collision were evident early on, but other things took longer. There is even a recent book about a ship that chose not to respond to the emergency. The consensus was however, that the proud owners had shaken their fists at God with their claim of unsinkability (that might not be an official word). Where am I going with all of this? You see there was this football game on Saturday where a team, that shall remain nameless, committed eight (8!) turnovers. Something like 5 fumbles and 3 interceptions. (8!) Of course, the team failed to win the game, but not by much. One must wonder if the coach or a player did not shake his fist at God. Other explanations for such a performance just seem too far-fetched to me.
Events occur in this life that defy a worldly explanation. The Titanic may not have been as unsinkable as the owners claimed, but many ships made the North Atlantic run without smacking icebergs. We may even have an event in our own lives where we look back and wonder if somewhere along the line we might not have mouthed off at God. Perhaps we spoke disrespectful words of the Almighty One, or made a rash vow in a moment of excitement. We may not know until Jesus brings us home. The event may have nothing at all to do with anything we said or did. Yesterday, I came very close to writing the old: "pay your tithe each week, and God will make you rich!"
We would like to believe that. It seems like the ultimate investment: pay ten percent of what income I have now and 'presto' wealth beyond my imagining! Did the widow in Jesus time become rich for giving her two mites? Right, we don't know. However, there is no guarantee that any of us will be given great riches from our tithing. The verse most use for that conclusion is in Malachi 3. The passage goes like this: "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me in this," says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it." (3:10 NKJV) The New Living Translation also uses the word "blessing" for what we receive from God. Does blessing mean monetary wealth? Not necessarily, though none of us would fail to thank God for such a blessing if we were to receive it. :-) Blessing - the gift of divine favor, according to one Webster's definition, may mean: good health, healing, a happy day, joy, peace, a friend having a good crop in his field, an unexpected visit from an old friend, and many other things that are not monetary in nature. God may pour out such a blessing that our dear, little hearts cannot grasp just how blessed we are. A blessing might include all of the good things we can think of too! I have been blessed by God, and I rather think that it didn't all come from faithful tithing; in fact I know that not all of it came from that because I haven't always... um, never mind. God blesses us out of His great love for all of us. Tithe out of obedience, but accept the blessing of God with thanksgiving and love.
I visited a friend yesterday, and I am glad with him. Various things in the government and economy have changed allowing him to take a loan from his retirement to fix up his home now. When I worked for the Big C, this kind of thing was not allowed. Banks also tightened up due to economic concerns and of course, jobs at the Big C no longer had that security we all thought would last forever. However, God is still sovereign, and we can see His work in making it possible for my friend to fix up a home in dire need of repair. You don't want mold in your house, even the insurance company wouldn't help him with the repairs. Yesterday, my friend showed me his nearly completed work in the house and what a difference! Glory to God! Isn't it a blessing to celebrate something like that with friends?
Count those non-monetary blessing today, see if your cup might not be full and overflowing today! Revel in the unsinkable joy of Jesus this morning!
Bucky
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