Kerry Shook - God First Blessing
You know, we're starting a new series leading up to our Christmas Eve services, and the whole series is based on Jesus's words in Matthew 6:33. So, would you open your Bibles there? And would you stand in honor of God's Word, Woodlands Church? And I want you to read this out loud with me. It's a really short passage, but it's really powerful. I want you to get it. And so just read it out loud with me. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you". You can be seated.
If you put God first, everything else in your life will fall into place, Jesus is saying. But if your number one goal in life is to find happiness, you're gonna be miserable. If your goal in life is to be happy, you never will be. But if you put God first, you'll experience true happiness, fulfillment, passion, purpose, and God's provision. It's the blessings of a God-first life. And over the last several years, there has been an unusual and growing Christmas crime taking place all over the country, and it's known as baby Jesus theft. Plastic baby Jesus figurines are being stolen from nativity scenes in record numbers.
And in some cases, it's carried out by anti-Christian vandals, but authorities tell us that in most cases, it's just bored teenagers playing a prank. And you know something has become a thing when it has its own Wikipedia page, which "Baby Jesus Theft" does. You can look it up. The "New York Times" even picked up on it with an article, titled "How to Keep Baby Jesus in the Manger". And the article went on to say that a growing number of churches and town halls are using security cameras and bolts and tethers to keep their baby Jesus from being stolen. After the baby Jesus was stolen a few years ago in a town in Pennsylvania, they set up a security camera the next year that everyone in town calls the Jesus cam.
And apparently, it's been really successful. They have had no trouble since the Jesus cam was set up. And then others have placed GPS devices inside their baby Jesus so they can track down the thieves and return Jesus to the manger. Now, here's the good news. Pranksters stealing plastic baby Jesus figurines can't steal Christmas. They can't steal Christmas. We do, however, see an attempt by the politically correct culture crowd to steal away the symbols of Christmas from public life. We're supposed to call it a holiday tree. It's no longer a Christmas tree. They want all nativity scenes removed from the public square. They don't want you to ever use the word "Christmas". It's gotta be the holidays.
You know, we've become so concerned not to offend anyone that we insult everyone's intelligence. Folks, it's Christmas. It's not the winter solstice celebration. It's Christmas. It's not the holiday festival. It's Christmas. Now, we respect our Jewish friends, who celebrate Hanukah around the same time. We respect the celebrations of all religions, but December 25 is Christmas. But I have to say, as much as it disturbs me to watch the politically correct crowd try to steal away all the symbols of Christmas from public life, there's something going on that's much more sinister than stealing the symbols of Christmas.
There is a crafty enemy who's trying to steal the substance of Christmas from our hearts, our lives, and our homes. And we should not only be concerned about restoring the symbols of Christmas. We ought to be more concerned about restoring the substance of Christmas. In John 10:10, Jesus put it this way: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full". Jesus is saying, "The reason I came at Christmas was to restore your life, to restore your passion and your purpose, to restore your joy and your peace.
But there is a thief, Satan, who has a plan for your life, as well, and his goal is to steal. He wants to steal away the blessings of Christmas from your life. He wants to steal away the blessings of God from your life. That's his whole purpose, and the way he does that is first he tries to steal the simplicity of a God-first life. He wants to steal away the simplicity of a God-first life". The apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:3 said, "But I fear lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ". Focus in on that phrase: "the simplicity that is in Christ".
We let the thief confuse us and complicate the Christian life, when it's so simple and yet so profound. When you take away the simple, you lose the powerful. And the Christian life is really simple, and it's powerful. And what is it? Put God first, put God first, listen and obey, do what God tells you to do, obey. That's the Christian life. You see, the enemy wants to steal away the simplicity of a God-first life, because he wants to steal away the generosity of a God-first life. If he can steal the simplicity of a God-first life, and that is just put God first, then he can steal away the generosity of a God-first life, because you can't have God-first living without God-first giving. God-first giving is such an integral part of God-first living.
And so the enemy will try to steal away the simplicity of a God-first life, so he can steal away the generosity of a God-first life, and this is what he's really trying to get at, so that he can steal away the blessings of a God-first life. That's his goal: to steal away your joy and your peace and your fulfillment, to steal away the things that money can never buy, and then to steal away things that also God wants to give you, so that you can be blessed to be a blessing to others, so you can be blessed to be a greater blessing to do things with your one and only life, your time, your resources, your talents, to make a difference in this world for eternity.
And so the enemy wants to steal away the generosity of a God-first life, so he can steal your blessings, the blessings of a God-first life. There was a time in the Old Testament when the people of God had stopped God-first giving. So, the God-first living had stopped, and so had the blessings. It was in Haggai 1:6, and God said this to them: "You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you are putting them in pockets filled with holes"!
God said no matter how hard they worked, no matter how much they earned, no matter how much they spent on themselves, it was never enough. They were always empty on the inside. It was like their wages, and their earnings, and their investments, it was like there was holes in their pockets. You see, I believe every Christ follower has what I call a blessing bucket. I like to think of it as a blessing bucket, and it's your own personal, individual blessing bucket that God gives you when you come to Christ. And you have a blessing bucket.
Now, if you close off the blessing bucket by closing off your heart, then you won't receive the blessings that God has for you, but the problem is when you don't practice God-first giving, the enemy comes in, and he pokes holes in your blessing bucket. And God can give you blessings, but they just pour out. You don't even realize you've got them. You don't even realize you're losing them. You don't even realize they're being stolen away from you, because you have these holes in your blessing bucket, and the blessings come from God, and they just go right through, and you don't even recognize it.
You can't even experience it, and it's like you never have enough, and you're always empty on the inside, and something's always wrong, and something's always missing, and you're always trying to work to get ahead, and that's what was happening. Their blessing buckets had holes in them. You see, the enemy doesn't want you to practice God-first giving, because he wants to steal the God-first blessings in your life, and I believe that God has gifts and blessings with your name on it personally, but you have to activate those blessings, and you do that through faith.
God always requires the first. You know that, don't you? All through Scripture, and Jesus affirmed it, that God always requires the first. The first belongs to God. And Proverbs 3:9 talks about it. It says, "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine". He's saying that give God the first and the best, because it's God's. God says, "The first is mine". Now, they were an agricultural society, so this was their income, those firstfruits, the first of their crops, and so they were to give the first to God.
And by the way, it doesn't say give the Lord your wealth, the firstfruits of all your crops. It says, "Honor the Lord". That's because you can't give what's not yours. That's just returning. God says, "The first is mine, and I require the first". And God always required the first, why? Because it requires faith. You say, "God, I'll give you the leftovers if there's any". That doesn't require faith. God always requires the first, because the first requires faith, and without faith, it's impossible to please God. And God-first faith activates God-first blessings, as we step out in faith, and then we see God bless.
In Leviticus 27:30, it says, "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD. It is holy to the LORD". It's the Lord's. Now, a tithe, that word just means tenth. And so what a tithe is, is a tenth of your income. This was their income, an agricultural society, that was their income, and so God says, "Everything that you make, it's really all mine, but I want you to give me back the first tenth to show that you know it, and that I'm first place in your heart; because if I'm not first place in your finances, and then I'm not first place in your heart, because your finances are important to you".
I mean, really, guys, if God is not first place in our finances, in our families, in our schedules, then, you know, those are the things that are important to us. And you say, "Well, God, you can be first place of my Bible study". And God says, "Not interested. I want to be first place in those things that you care about so deeply, in those things that you worry about. I don't want you to worry".
And so we're to give God back first, that tithe literally means the first tenth of all you make. It's the first tenth. And God says, "If you don't return that to me, then you're just stealing from me; but really, you're just stealing from yourself, because I want to bless you. I want to show you that I'm alive and real, and I care about an important area of your life. And if you can't trust me in your finances, then really you can't trust me, and I want you to learn to trust me".
Now, to illustrate that, I've got some Christmas cookies from our café up here, and they're really good, and they look really good, and I've been tempted all morning to eat one of these cookies. I haven't yet. I probably will before it's over with, but there's ten of them. And let's just say these cookies represent your income, everything that you make, and there's ten cookies. Which one is the tithe? This represents ten percent. Which one of these cookies is the tithe you're to give back to God? It's the first one that goes out. It's the first cookie that goes out, the first ten percent that goes out, why? Because that requires faith.
And if you say, "Well, you know what, God? I mean, yeah, I believe I know tithing is all through Scripture. I know and I believe in tithing. I believe it's your command, God, and I know Jesus affirmed it. I know that, but, you know, it's pretty tight this month, so yeah, yeah, we'll give you one cookie, ten percent, maybe at the end of the month, God". Now, I think that God, in his mercy and grace, if you give him the fifth cookie or the tenth cookie, as long as you give him that ten, he's gonna bless. He's gonna work. But that's not really the tithe, because the tithe is the first ten percent. That requires faith.
You're saying, "God, I believe your word that you're gonna meet my needs, that you're gonna bless me, and you're gonna take care of me in a really important area of my life, so I'm gonna give you the first". And so I really believe this is what God calls you to do is give the first cookie, the first one that goes out. It goes to God, because your mortgage company doesn't have the ability to bless your finances, but God does. And I want God involved. So, God gets the first cookie, that first ten percent. The problem is when we say, "God, if I have something I'm gonna give it to you at the end, but right now it's really tight. Things are pretty tough".
And you get to the end of the month, and it's like, "Yeah, God, I know tithing is a command. I know I should put you first in my finances. But God, I mean, the car broke down. You understand that. God, you don't need a car. You don't drive, so maybe you don't understand that, but I do. You know, I've gotta get to work. You know, I can't make money, and I couldn't tithe, if I didn't make money, and the car broke down. So, God, you get that, don't you? But God, look, I have half of your cookie left. That's pretty good. You don't even eat cookies, God, so I mean that's pretty good, isn't it? But then, oh, God, I didn't realize it. The kids, the kids are so expensive. They told me not to have kids if I wanted to be rich, but now I have. So, God, you know, you love children. 'Let the little children come unto me,' you say. Well, I'll send them to you because they're too expensive for me, God. I don't know what to do. What am I gonna do, God? I mean, you told me to take care of them, and it's really expensive, all their leagues, and all their classes, and all their stuff. I've gotta buy them the best stuff 'cause everyone around has the best stuff, and I don't want my kid to be made fun of if they didn't have the best stuff, so I've gotta buy all the best stuff, and it's just costs a lot, but I've got a fourth of your cookie left, God. Yeah, we're gonna give to you, God. But, oh, God, I'm sorry. I didn't realize there's some other expenses that cropped up, and I've gotta have my Starbucks, God, 'cause if I don't have my Starbucks every day, I can't get anything done for you. I mean, you know that, don't you, God? I mean, God, I'll just, I'll lose my job if I don't have my Starbucks. It's hard enough as it is. But God, guess what? I've got a few crumbs to give you".
Isn't that great? And we give God our leftover crumbs, and God said, "Mm-mm, no, that's stealing from me". And that's one of the reasons why God points this out a lot through Scripture. Jesus talked about money more than he talked about heaven or hell, why? I guess 'cause he knows that's the big one, you know, in our lives. He knows that's the big one that, you know, it really comes down to. And a lot of times, we give him the crumbs, when God says, "You're stealing from me. Like, really, you're stealing the blessings that I want to give you. You're missing out on what I wanna give you".
In Malachi 3:10 it says, "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test Me in this,' says the LORD Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.'" I love that. He said, "If you'll bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, the first tenth of all you make, and the storehouse is the church, and you bring it, you give it to me, then I'm going to open up the floodgates of heaven," God says, "and pour out blessings on you so great, you won't be able to store it all, because I want to bless you to be a blessing, to make a difference for eternity in this world".
And so God says, "I'm gonna meet your needs, and I'm gonna give you things money can't buy: peace, and joy, and fulfillment, and I'm going to give you the things that you need. I'm going to meet your financial needs, and I want to bless you, so you can be a blessing". I am so grateful that my parents taught me this principle of the first, this principle of tithing when I was a kid. If I got a dollar in my allowance when I was seven years old, I knew the first ten cents went back to God. If I got $100 for mowing lawns, I knew the first $10 went back to God.
You know, when Chris and I first got married, you know, we didn't have much, and we said, "You know what? We need to tithe. We need to put God first, 'cause we want God to be involved in our marriage, in our finances". And over half of divorces are caused by financial arguments, and we don't want that. We want God to be involved. And so I'm just grateful my parents, and I think back, and I think about all the times they would just give above and beyond the tithe, and how generous they were, and how they would just give, and it would amaze me. But I'm so thankful that I learned that, but some of you didn't learn that, and you grew up where it was not about that.
And now, you know, you know God's Word, and God's Word says tithe, give back that tithe, return that tithe. I was like, "Whoa, God, that's tough". But I'm telling you, that's the way it is with all of God's commands. When you take the step of obedience, God takes care of you, and he blesses. And you can't afford not to tithe, because you want God to be involved in your finances. It really comes down to what do you want God to do in your life this year? How do you want God to bless you? That's what it really comes down to.
And God says, "You can test me in this". And I love that, because we're not supposed to test God in anything other than in giving, why? Because I guess he knows it's hard for us. "Test me in this and see if I won't come through for you and meet your every need". See, you can't have God-first living without God-first giving. And that's why Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money".
Now, the more literal translation for the word "money" here in the Greek is mammon. In the King James Version, it says mammon. It's a better translation of this word. Now, mammon was the pagan god of wealth in that day. So, Jesus was saying it's not God versus a thing. It's God versus another god, with a little G. My friend, Ryan Thomas, in his book "How Bold Giving Leads to Great Blessing," points out here that Jesus is saying you have to choose which of these you're going to worship. They're both enemies. One is the true God.
Another is god with a little G, and you've got to decide which one you're going to worship, because they're both enemies, and they're both very demanding. Whichever one you choose to worship will consume all of your love and devotion, and so you have to choose. You see, Jesus doesn't say here it's God versus the world. It's God versus sin. It's God versus Satan. No, in the supernatural smackdown that we all have to deal with, it's God versus money, why? Because in Jesus's day, just as in ours, the god of money is the number one false god that gives the one true God his toughest competition. But really, that's it. That's the biggy in our culture today, in our communities. That's the biggy. And so Jesus was saying it comes down to God, the one true God, versus money.
So, which do you worship? Because you can't worship both, and no one can tell from the outside. Poor people can secretly worship money, and there are successful people, many who worship God. So, you can't tell from the outside, and you can say you love God. You can sing songs to God, but the only way you can really tell which God you've chosen is by your giving. There's just no other way. The only way is by your giving. See, when it comes down to the battle for your heart, between the one true God and the god of money, if you say, "Well, I love the one true God, and you say to the one true God, I will give you anything, I will give you everything, except for my money," you've revealed who's won your heart. You've revealed who you worship.
The number one thing keeping most Christians from a deeper relationship with God is they already have another god; and all of your efforts to grow spiritually, all of your efforts to grow closer to Christ are just useless unless you change gods. And that's why Jesus said this, and that's why he pointed it out. It would sort of be like if you had a married friend who's having an ongoing affair, that that married friend came over to you and said, "Hey, I really wanna grow closer to my wife. I really wanna build my marriage stronger, and I don't really know what to do. Maybe I should take her on more dates. Maybe I should take a communication class and learn how to communicate better. And maybe, I don't know".
And you'd say, "Well, first, you need to break off that affair". But then he says, "What? No, I'm not talking about that woman. I'm talking about my wife. I'm not talking about the affair. I'm talking about how do I grow closer to my wife? I mean, what should I do? The affair doesn't relate to that". You go, "You're nuts. But until you break off that affair, there's nothing you can do that's gonna build you closer to your wife and grow your marriage".
And if you're a Christ follower, and you want to grow closer to God, and you think, "This year, you know, I'm gonna pray more. I'm gonna have my quiet time more. I'm gonna get into a Bible study". Well, all of that is useless if you've already given your heart to someone else, the god of money. And the only way to break that is to give. Really, there are two ways. Be grateful for what you have. It's all God's anyway. And then give the first ten percent to say, "God, you're first place in my life. You're first place in my heart".
And that's why Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, "But where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". It's not that God needs your money. He wants what it represents. It represents your heart. He wants to be first place in your heart. And it's not that giving just reveals your heart. It's also that giving can direct your heart. Did you know that?
When you begin to give, your heart gets more and more and more and more turned toward whatever you're giving to. And it's the same with God. When you give to God, your heart and your affections move toward God and move toward his work in bringing people into the kingdom of heaven, and doing things that last for eternity.