Sharing His Wealth

Genesis 32:13–15

  "And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his 

hand a present for Esau his brother; Two hundred she goats, and 

twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, Thirty 

milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten 

bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals."

    Jacob acquired 5,500 animals while working for Laban. From that, he gave one-tenth, 550 animals to his brother Esau as a peace offering. This percentage is no accident. Ten percent of those animals didn’t belong to Jacob anyway. When Jacob left his father’s home, he made a promise to God. In keeping with what would later become an official biblical law, Jacob committed to giving a tenth of his profits to charitable causes: “and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee,” (Genesis 28:22). But for whatever reason, Jacob did not tithe his property while working for Laban. Now, instead of parting with his assets for the sake of charity, Jacob ended up losing his property to Esau, a far less attractive cause!

    We all know that we should be charitable and share our money with others. But that’s not always so easy to do. It’s our money after all, we think. Shouldn’t we get to enjoy it? But God says: "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of host," (Haggai 2:8). None of our earthly possessions actually belongs to us. Everything belongs to God, and we are to use what He has graciously given to us appropriately.

    There is a lesson to be learned from this. It is that knowing who the owner is makes all of the difference. If we see ourselves as the true owners of our assets, then we may resist sharing them with God and others. But when we realize that everything belongs to Him, we will jump at the opportunity to share. 

Amen!

Reading: 32:1-21

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You 

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry