A Tow or A Tithe

“I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven. Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” Luke 16:9-11 NLT

Over the past few months God has blessed me with a number of cash lump sums from an inheritance. The financial benefit to my family has been outstanding! So, wanting to be faithful with these new financial resources and to show God my appreciation I made plans to donate ten percent to Christian charities following my regular practice of tithing on all income. But the tax receipts from all of the donations would be more than necessary to reduce my income taxes this year so I thought I would hold off on some contributions until next calendar year. While I thought this was fiscally prudent, today God reminded me that it was not spiritually prudent.
This morning as I was reading the Parable of the Shrewd Manager in Luke 16, God convicted me that I needed to take action and tithe NOW on this inheritance because He had plans for that ten percent that I would be giving to His work. I realised that it was wrong for me to enjoy the whole amount of the inheritance while delaying my donations. What would happen to His plans if I did not co-operate, I asked myself. God has given me this money at a particular time because He is expecting me to make those donations. Silently confessing my errors, I got to work: pulled out my cheque book and wrote one cheque, made plans to call another organisation for information, and made a list for the next cheques. OK, I was organized for now so I carried on with my regular morning routine.
Upon walking to the gym in our townhouse complex, I rounded the corner to see my daughter’s car hooked up to tow truck! She had been visiting us and had parked in the visitor parking spot within our complex. Apparently the strata manager had called the towing company. (Perhaps I had incorrectly remembered the rules which would allow her to park there for a few days.) Thank God the tow truck driver was allowed to receive a payment from me to release the car rather than me having to retrieve it from the towing company later. The cost of $50 was small compared to the minimum $120 to collect it later.
Immediately, I knew it was God reminding me of His financial policy: “God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others” (2 Cor 9:8). How stingy I had been! Quickly, today’s words from Luke came to mind. Oh dear, God trusts me with this inheritance and I am not reciprocating His generosity. Please forgive me, Lord! Thank you God for this gentle and not too expensive lesson! I am getting my cheque book out right now!