Honor The Lord
Proverbs 3:9-10 says, "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."
To "honor" means to attach high value to someone or something. Therefore, honoring the Lord with your wealth means to show that you value God by how you manage your wealth. Some may say, "Well, I'll give more to God when I become wealthy." You don't have to be rich to be wealthy. You may not have an abundance of money, but you might have an abundance of time. You may not have an abundance of time, but you may have an abundance of talent. We are all wealthy in some way and you may be more wealthy than you think. No matter what you have, ALL that you have has been given to you by God. It all belongs to him. We get into trouble when we begin to believe that somehow we deserve what we have or that it truly belongs to us.
We are told to honor the Lord with our firstfruits. That means off the top, at the beginning, as soon as we get it. We should give God the best of what we have and not just the left-overs. How often have you said, "When I get time? When I get enough? When I'm a little older? When I'm a little wiser? When I retire?" When we don't give God the best, off the top of what we receive, it means we don't really trust God to provide what we need.
Notice that there is a blessing when we do honor the Lord off the top of what we receive from Him. He gives us even more. When we trust and value God enough to handle His resources His way, then He fills our barns to overflowing. It is true, use God's blessing and provision in the right way or loose it. If we grasp the blessing of God and hold on to it, value it above God Himself, we loose it because we have valued and held on to the wrong thing.
A couple of my favorite verses are just above in verses 5 & 6. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways (in the new NIV) 'submit' to Him, and He will make your paths straight." We don't like that word "submit." But that's what it really takes to Honor The Lord.
Alan L. Thomas <><
To "honor" means to attach high value to someone or something. Therefore, honoring the Lord with your wealth means to show that you value God by how you manage your wealth. Some may say, "Well, I'll give more to God when I become wealthy." You don't have to be rich to be wealthy. You may not have an abundance of money, but you might have an abundance of time. You may not have an abundance of time, but you may have an abundance of talent. We are all wealthy in some way and you may be more wealthy than you think. No matter what you have, ALL that you have has been given to you by God. It all belongs to him. We get into trouble when we begin to believe that somehow we deserve what we have or that it truly belongs to us.
We are told to honor the Lord with our firstfruits. That means off the top, at the beginning, as soon as we get it. We should give God the best of what we have and not just the left-overs. How often have you said, "When I get time? When I get enough? When I'm a little older? When I'm a little wiser? When I retire?" When we don't give God the best, off the top of what we receive, it means we don't really trust God to provide what we need.
Notice that there is a blessing when we do honor the Lord off the top of what we receive from Him. He gives us even more. When we trust and value God enough to handle His resources His way, then He fills our barns to overflowing. It is true, use God's blessing and provision in the right way or loose it. If we grasp the blessing of God and hold on to it, value it above God Himself, we loose it because we have valued and held on to the wrong thing.
A couple of my favorite verses are just above in verses 5 & 6. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways (in the new NIV) 'submit' to Him, and He will make your paths straight." We don't like that word "submit." But that's what it really takes to Honor The Lord.
Alan L. Thomas <><
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