The Lost Tithe
It was lunchtime on Friday when I went to the bank to withdraw cash to contribute my tithe at church on Sabbath. I normally don't take notice of the amount of denominations being counted by the bank teller, but this time I did, and I remembered the notes counted out. Following this I went to the post office to post a letter, then returned to my office.
When I arrived home that evening, I went to put the money into the tithe envelope, but I couldn't find it. I went to the car, and even checked behind the seat, but it was nowhere to be found. I phoned David, a work associate whom I had gone out with in the afternoon on an inspection, and asked if he would check around the passenger seat for my missing money. He phoned back, saying he wasn't able to find it.
By this time I was feeling sick about the situation. But my wife said we should pray about it. We concluded our prayer with, “The money is Yours, God, and we leave it all in Your care.” After this I was impressed to call the police. I reported I’d lost some money and asked if any had been handed in.
Immediately the constable said, “What are the denominations?” I told him the correct amounts, and he said, “Come and get it!” “Praise the Lord!” I said. The whole family drove into town, happy and excited to collect the missing tithe. When I was told the name and address of the person who had found the tithe, I resolved to thank and reward the person personally. A few days later I went to thank a woman named Betty, who lived in a granny flat at the rear of her son’s house. Betty was a petite, elderly woman, who told me she was about to board the bus with her friend in front of the post office when she noticed what seemed like a roll of camera film lying on the footpath. Her friend urged her to get moving to catch the bus, but Betty decided to pick up what she had recognized as money. Her immediate thought was to phone the police as soon as she arrived home. Betty contacted the police, who placed the money in the lost-and-found section of the police station.
I thanked Betty for her honesty and rewarded her and went away thanking God for honest people.
Betty was honest about someone’s money, not knowing it was God’s. Can we who know God and His Word be as honest as Betty was in paying the tenth that does belong to God? A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart for Him as holy (see Lev. 27:30.)
John McKenzie is an engineer who works for the Campaspe Shire Council, based in Echuca, Victoria.
This story, written by Nathan Brown, is used with permission, as a Stewardship Ministries devotional, from Signs Publishing Company. More of these stories can be found in these collections: Ordinary People—Extraordinary God, Ordinary People—Faithful God, and Ordinary People—Generous God
About Nathan Brown
Nathan Brown is a writer and book editor, based near Melbourne, Australia. He is author or editor of more than 10 books and is published in magazines and blogs around the world.
