Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Be Faithful To God

Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.” Zechariah 5:3

Firstly, the vision reveals a “thief” in the house (Zech. 5:3). A “thief” is someone who has robbed God by taking what is rightfully His. Malachi 3:8 says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings” (Mal. 3:8). This was the situation in the days of Zechariah and Haggai. The people were not faithfully giving their tithes to God. This problem on tithing has been a perpetual problem throughout the history of the Church. Apostle Paul says, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36). As the Creator, God owns everything. Tithing is returning to God a tenth of all that He has given to us. It is a test of our faithfulness and it qualifies us to be a steward of God. To withhold the tithe is therefore robbing that which belongs to God. As such, Malachi 3:9 says that you are therefore “cursed with a curse.” A thief is cursed and can never see the blessings and the abundance of God.

Secondly, the vision reveals a “perjurer” in the house. A “perjurer” is someone who violates an oath by failing to do what has been promised under oath. He swears but after that conveniently changes his mind because it is going to cost him too much to keep the vow. In actual fact, that is no different from lying and God hates a lying tongue (Prov. 6:16-17). God loves a promise-keeper. “But he honors those who fear the LORD; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change” (Ps. 15:4). Even if it is going to hurt you, you would rather keep your promise than be a false swearer. Jephthah swore that if God gave Him the victory, he would give God whatever that came out of his house to greet him first. Little did he imagine that it would be his daughter. Jephthah loved his daughter but he loved the Lord even more. He faithfully kept his vow (Judg. 11:39). A group of people made a commitment to go back to the Holy Land with Zerubbabel. But when they came back to the land, they changed their mind because the conditions were too harsh. They started building their own houses while the house of the Lord remained in ruins. To God, that was committing the sin of a perjurer. Have you been a faithful tither? Have you fulfilled all the promises that you made to God? If you have not, then make a decision today to be a faithful tither and a promisekeeper. It may cost you something, but the reward far outweighs the sacrifice. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

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