Look to the Lord

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

LOOK TO THE LORD

Gen 14:18-24

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself." 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.' 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me — to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share."

NIV

Although we looked at the blessing of Abram by Melchizedek, we did not consider this tenth of everything that Abram gave him. This is one of those beginning verses where we take the rule of tithing to the Lord, or rather to the church. However, we generally take our cue, or rule, from the verses in Malachi about how a man robs God by not bringing a tenth into the storehouse that they might be food in his house. In ancient times, this was meant for provisions in the temple for the Levite priests who served in the temple courts and to maintain the temple provisions. In our modern times, it is still fitting that the tenth of our income should support the material needs of the church. Today's church has financial expenses the temple did not, such as heat, air conditioning, lights, salaries for staff, support of missionaries, etc. Sometimes the cost of staff can get blurred with pastors living so large that it is obnoxious. But there is another story here that deserves our attention. Abram would not keep any of the spoils for himself, as he did not want the king of Sodom to think he made Abram rich, for Abram believed that God would provide for him. We should take our lesson from that principle. Sure, we must work, or labor all the days of our lives, which was the command of God to Adam. He must labor for his own sustenance. Again, we might have taken that in another context: we do work, but not all the days of our lives; instead, we work to store up for our retirement. Then stop working to do whatever we please. However, the point is that we should not be looking to our own efforts, but always look to the LORD for everything in our lives. We should not need others to give into our hands, but raise our hands to the LORD; He will bless us. He will direct our paths, how we should work, and how we should earn our sustainability. Then, because all comes from the hand of God, we give him back a tenth of it, keeping the rest. On the other hand, Abram did believe others deserved their share because of their part in the victory. Nevertheless, let us always look to the LORD, praising and thanking him for his provisions for our lives. Let us not look to others to make us rich; but look to the Lord; he will see we have enough.