An Offertory Devotional video for Sabbath, June 4, 2022, in your @adventistchurch: vimeo.com/687924278. Putting God first can be difficult. What we can learn from this video that will help us put God first in our lives today? Also available in #Spanish and #Portuguese. Put #GodFirst #StewardshipMinistries
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For more information on the Stewardship Ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, you can head over to stewardship.adventist.org/
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We worship God with our resources because it is one of God’s protective walls against the deceitful one. The Bible portrays Babylon as a major threat to God’s people. Prophetic Babylon serving intoxicated wine conveys the idea of deception (Prov. 20:1). One of Babylon’s final deceptions is to present itself as the source of economic prosperity. This manipulation works well because it appeals to our natural attraction for material gain. Are we not the generation known as “lovers of money”? (2 Tim. 3:2). How do we stand in resistance to the deception of Babylon?
Observing squirrels can teach us a lesson. These cute and furry creatures often roam in our backyards, but they are always cautious not to come too close and are furtive when you approach them. However, when their reserve of the acorn is almost depleted, this is the time to attract them to you by offering them some nuts. Their need for food leads them to lower their defense mechanism. Effective manipulations function in the same way: they appeal to a perceived need. When one experiences a financial crisis, the means to acquire some form of income becomes particularly attractive!
The practice of returning tithe and giving systematic offerings helps us constantly remember that God is the Source of true riches (Deut. 8:18). Hence, we don’t have to yield to the Babylonians’ manipulative schemes to obtain what we need. Furthermore, the craving for material possessions losses its grip over us when we are already appreciative through giving of what we have received. Ellen G. White wrote: “Constant, self-denying benevolence is God’s remedy for the cankering sins of selfishness and covetousness” (Testimonies to the Church, vol. 3, p. 548).
We are called to come out of Babylon. This includes resisting the manipulation of Babylon in issues of finances. Is it safe to discard the protective gear that our God has given us? Through our tithe and regular offerings, called Promise, we can stand in resistance to Babylon.