SSD: THE WITHHELD TITHES
One businessman profited from a considerable amount of money, and his tithe amounted to one hundred thousand pesos (Php. 100,000.00). He was blinded by the sparkle of enormous wealth and decided to use it as additional capital for his business. So he didn’t return his tithe the following Sabbath.
A week later, something happened that taught him a lesson. He ran over a man while driving his truck. The man was taken to the hospital, and the businessman was asked to pay five hundred thousand pesos (Php. 500,000.00) for his care. However, he was not able to pay more than two hundred pesos (Php. 200,000.00) for the hospital bill.
He believed that the Lord was using this incident to teach him a lesson. The amount of money he had to pay the hospital was twice that of the tithe he should have returned. Despite this incident, he was still blinded by the lure of money, and he again didn’t pay his tithe for a second time. He again used it for his business by buying new tires for his truck.
To his amazement, the newly purchased truck tires exploded. This time the businessman was convinced that God was trying to teach him faithfulness in returning tithe, and his heart was changed. He now realized the danger of withholding the tithe. From that time, he has been faithfully returning his tithe and giving offerings to the Lord.
According to the businessman, he now sheds tears when he considers how good the Lord has been to him and the many blessings He’s been pouring on his family now that they are faithful in returning what is the Lord’s.
