God gives a discount

Genesis 47 v 24

God clearly teaches us to be generous in our time, talent and treasure. From the very outset he instituted the practice of giving back to God. People brought offerings from their crops or livestock.

In the law that he gave Israel he quantified a tithe (a tenth) of their wealth to be given to God.

I realise that some people have a discussion about a whether this tithe follows through to the New Testament but this story in Genesis 47 made that discussion seem irrelevant.

The people of this time were so desperate for food they had sold everything to buy it, livestock, possession, homes and land. They even sold themselves as slaves. Finally Joseph struck up a deal where the government gave them seeds but when the crops came they had to give 20% back to the government. They were overjoyed and even saw this as generous on the part of the government.

They were saved from starvation so were more than happy to part with 20%. Now in the light of what Jesus has done for us what percentage are we prepared to give back to him? Suddenly 10% seems small.