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God had the Holy
Spirit direct James in his epistle to say, “Hearken, my beloved brethren;
did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith,
and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those that love him.” (James
2:5)
When I was a young preacher in West Texas during the 1930’s, the Great
Depression years, we had a saying that went, “God must love poor people,
because so many of them are His children.” My parents were very poor. We all
worked hard to have the minimal comforts of life, but we were a happy
family.
I knew we
were not commanded to give ten percent of our income to the Lord in the New
Testament as it was commanded in the Old Testament. I purposed to give back
to the Lord ten percent of all I received if the Lord would help me get the
training I needed to be a preacher. Giving ten percent was a way I had of
saying ‘thank you’ to God for his help. I could not have made it through
college had not God opened the doors for me to do so.
While I was
in college I preached twice a month for a small church in a small town where
most members were farmers. I often ate Sunday dinner with one farm family
that was unique. This farmer had to rent the farm he worked. There were the
two parents and seven children in this family. They had a very old car that
they drove eleven miles to church, and as much back home. Everyone in that
family was at every service of the church. They were clean, neatly dressed,
and very attractive. The wife and mother was a gourmet cook. The food on
their table was plain, but the best I had ever eaten.
I was
visiting another family in that church and mentioned what a fine family the
above mentioned was. The father of this family said, “They are a very fine
family, but we have a problem with the father of that family.” I asked, “How
could that be?” He replied, “He believes strictly in giving ten percent to
the Lord. Even when he borrows money from the bank to plant a crop he gives
ten percent of the loan to the church.” It is true that God never asked
anyone to give ten percent of a loan to Him, but this farmer thought he
should do that, and he did. I knew that family for many years. There were
all hard working, and they demonstrated what David said in Psalms 37:25, “I
have been young, and am no old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread.” That family was poor in earthly assets, but
they were RICH IN FAITH, and HEIRS OF GOD’S KINGDOM. The parents and two of
the children have received their inheritance with the Lord, and the other
children are on their way!
Harvey
Childress, servant of Jesus Christ |
Harvey Childress |
