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Business Principles and Methods
89
tithe of the herd or the flock, ... shall be holy to the Lord.”
Leviticus
27:30, 32
.
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse” (
Malachi 3:10
) is God’s
command. No appeal is made to gratitude or to generosity. This is a
matter of simple honesty. The tithe is the Lord’s, and He tells us to
return to Him that which is His own.
“It is required in stewards, that they be found trustworthy.”
1
Corinthians 4:2
, NRSV. If honesty is an essential principle of busi-
ness life, must we not recognize our obligation to God—the obliga-
tion that underlies every other?
By the terms of our stewardship we are placed under obligation
not only to God but to humanity. To the infinite love of the Redeemer
every human being is indebted for the gifts of life. Food, clothing,
and shelter; body, mind, and soul—all are the purchase of His blood.
And by the obligation of gratitude and service thus imposed, Christ
has bound us to all members of the human family. He bids us,
“Through love serve one another.”
Galatians 5:13
; see also
Matthew
25:40
;
Revelation 1:14
. By all that has blessed our life above others,
we are placed under obligation to every human being whom we
might benefit.
Never can we safely lose sight of the fact that the goods we
handle are not our own. We are but stewards, and on the discharge
of our obligation to God and needy humans depend both the welfare
of other people and our own destiny for this life and for the life to
come. “Cast your bread upon the water, for you will find it after
many days.”
Ecclesiastes 11:1
.
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For
with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to
you.”
Luke 6:38
.
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food
in My house, and prove Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts,
“if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for
you such a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive
it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not
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destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit
for you in the field.”
Malachi 3:10, 11
.