Proverbs 3:9-10 — Jesus is Watching

Honor the Lord with your wealth,
    with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
    and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Summary: Giving is what God does all day long. If we want to be like our God and honor what he has done in our life, we will do the same. 

Christians of a Protestant bent are not obligated to tithe by any command of the Lord as a condition of salvation. We are saved by God’s grace and mercy through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2: 8). Yet here, in the midst of a book of proverbs useful for “gaining wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1: 2), we find today’s passage about giving first fruits.

Solomon points out that giving the Lord the first share of one’s wealth is a way to show honor.

Why?

Dave Ramsey, CEO of Ramsey Solutions and author of Financial Peace University, says, “Getting out of debt leads to giving, because if you’re out of debt and on a budget and you love Jesus, I think tithing is a natural thing that occurs.” He says a lot of other things, too. For a full discussion on this topic, I happily defer to him or others more knowledgeable than myself. But I do want to talk about this concept of showing honor to God.

One summer while I was in college, I worked at the local paper mill. They assigned me to work on the roll wrapping equipment that prepared the rolls of paper for shipment. The machine that did this work was a big metal framework that looked a bit like a mechanical carwash. The rolls of paper would enter at one end and come out the other nicely wrapped, ready to be shipped.

When I first started work, I was appalled at how filthy the equipment was. The framework, controls, and machinery were covered in a brown coating of snus (chewing tobacco). For years the men who operated the equipment had stood there between wrapping rolls, chatting, chewing snus, and spitting… all over the machine.

Since there was a lot of “downtime” that summer because of paper machine problems, I made it my goal to clean up the equipment. I found a bucket and some rags and started washing while I waited for the next roll to wrap. By the time the summer was over, the equipment looked brand new. I imagine that Jesus does something similar when he comes into our lives.

We might think that the way we have always done things is okay. The junk and filth that I am living in feels okay to me because I am used to it. Jesus, coming to us from God, has a different perspective. He starts the work of cleaning us up. One thing he works on is our attitude about giving.

God is a giver. He comes to us in our filth and gives us new life. He blesses us in more ways than we can count. He does not demand that we do the same, but the more we reflect our Lord’s values, the more we want to be like him. We want to honor God with the first portion of what he gives to us.

If we are not giving back to the Lord, it is a good indication that we have not fully opened our hearts to him. Solomon challenges us to give. Jesus himself says:

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)

That last line is especially haunting! “For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Are you measuring what you give with a teaspoon or a five-gallon bucket?

Jesus is watching to see what you do.

Application: Do not fight Jesus when he starts cleaning up our lives. Embrace him! Follow him. Be like him. 

Food for Thought: How does doing what God does honor him?