The Love of the Father

Highway Robbery

Saturday, June 15, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in. mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Malachi 3:8–10

From 1869 to 1882, Jesse James was the most famous outlaw in America. Along with his brother Frank and some of their friends and fellow Civil War veterans, James robbed banks and trains across the American Midwest. He had an eye for publicity as well as crime, often leaving press releases behind to bolster his reputation as a thief. James continued his murderous crime spree until he was betrayed and killed by a fellow gang member who hoped to collect the large reward placed on Jesse James.

We rightly condemn Jesse James for his criminal life. We observe that his end was far from unexpected given the violence he visited on others. Yet too often God’s children are living from the proceeds of robbery—not of other people, but of Him. Rather than responding to God’s grace by tithing and generous giving, they hold back from God what is rightfully His.

Tithes and offerings are a Christian’s way to affirm that everything he has comes from God and belongs to God. Giving that first 10 percent back to God is something He has instructed in His Word, and giving is something we see Christians in the New Testament practice as well. Actually, many New Testament Christians gave far above their tithes. In 2 Corinthians 8:5, as Paul described the Macedonian Christians’ sacrificial giving to the Lord, he wrote, “And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord….”

In contrast to these sacrificial gifts, a Barna survey in the United States indicated that only about 8 percent of the people who identify as Christians tithe. When we rob God in tithes and offerings, we may think that we are getting ahead and will have more than if we give generously. Instead we are impoverishing ourselves and limiting the opportunities we have to invest in God’s eternal work.

Today's Growth Principle: 

First give yourself to the Lord, and then give to Him from what He has given to you. 

The Love of the Father

When I was 16 my parents got me a car. I remember being so excited to drive to youth group and to be independent. On my way to the church, my car hydroplaned and slipped straight into a tree. I got out of the car to find the front of the passenger side smashed in with the wheel pressed up to the frame. As I got out of the car, I called home terrified. My mother answered, and told me she was sending my father. I was terrified of what my fathers response would be. Was I going to be punished, grounded till I was 18, or never drive again? My father arrived and began laugh. I couldn’t decide whether this was a “good” laugh or a “bad laugh,” so I hesitantly laughed with him. His response to the accident was, “Well better the car than you. A car can be replaced, I could never replace you son.”

Is this not like our relationship with God? When we make a mistake we are terrified of what God may think. Perhaps we are so ashamed that we don’t want him to ever know. But much like my car, there was no hiding the mistake. What we miss is that the love of God is greater than any mistake we could ever make. And every time we come before him with our mistake, our Father in Heaven’s response is simply, “I could never replace you. You are my son/daughter, and there is nothing that you could do to make me love you less.”

1 John 3:1 (NIV)

“See what Great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

Proverbs 3:11-12

My child, when the Lord God speaks to you, never take his words lightly, and never be upset when he corrects you. For the Father’s discipline comes only from his passionate love and pleasure for you. Even when it seems like his correction is harsh, it’s still better than any father on earth gives to his child.

– Proverbs 3:11-12

Happy Father’s Day!