There’s an old saying than applies to every aspect of life, “You live and die by your choices.” Every day each one of us faces hundreds of choices, most of them innocuous, from what time to set the alarm, what to eat for breakfast, what clothes to wear, which phone calls and emails to answer, what we will eat for lunch, what music to listen to. While all our choices have consequences some choices are much more important because they are fraught with weightier consequences. Choices like: what our attitude will be for the day, what websites we will explore, will I have a cocktail or diet soda for lunch, should I take that birth control pill for my hot date tonight, what college should I attend, will I join the gang in smoking pot, what will I do with the money I have, should I quit my job today?

In Deuteronomy 8 the people of God were on the brink of having their dream realized. No longer in slavery, they had endured the wilderness desert and were now about to cross into God’s Promised Land, a land of prosperity flowing with milk and honey. Many times God warned his people with the words found in Deuteronomy 8:1, “Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live…” Verse 6 “Observe the commands of the Lord our God, walking in his way and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing into a good land—where…you will lack nothing.”

When it comes to the things of our God and our relationship with Him, we are faced with all kinds of choices like “Choose you this day whom you will serve.” “If God is God then follow Him, but if Ba’al is god, then follow Him.” “Come…and I will give you rest.” “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” “Come and drink from the water of the fountain of life.”

Sometime ago Yankee great Yogi Berra remarked, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” And we do! Everyone does and that fork is either following God and incorporating His ways into our lives or we go our own way, doing our own thing, either ignorant and oblivious to God’s ways or else defiant against the things of God. Jesus said (Matthew 8:13-14), “Broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it, but narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find it.”

This choice applies to our financial success and prosperity as well. When you choose to follow Jesus you are prosperous and you are financially successful. When you choose to follow the world, the flesh and the devil, ie opposite God’s way, you are not either. WARNING----success and prosperity in this world are not the same as success and prosperity as God defines it. Sharon and I are successful and we are prosperous, certainly not as the world understands it. Neither of us makes a six-figure income. I don’t live in a mansion (but will one day!). I am not driving a Lexus or Jaguar, let alone a Bentley. I don’t live in Palm Beach nor Hyannis Port. But I am prosperous and successful in the things that really matter, and God provides for the things in this life that don’t really matter.

Our choices have consequences, either good or bad consequences. That is a law of life. The question is this: what choices will I make and will those choices prosper me or lead to disaster?

All of us want to make choices that will prosper us. We certainly don’t intentionally set out to make choices that will harm us or lead to disaster. Our choices, please remember, flow out of our attitudes and our beliefs. If we believe what the world says, we will make choices based on that worldview. If we believe God’s Word, we will make choices based on a Christian worldview. Let me tell you that they are diametrically opposed to each other. The world’s economy and God’s economy are very, very different. The world says earn, earn, earn so you can spend and hoard. God says give and give some more in order for you to prosper.

It’s quite ironic that God’s prosperity can lead to turning away from God Himself. Look at verse 10-11. “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commands, His Laws and His decrees, that I am giving you this day.” This is exactly where America is today. And now verse 17, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’” This is why Sharon and I pray before every meal because we don’t ever want to forget that it is God who provides even our food for us. This is why Sharon and I tithe, and give beyond the tithe, because we don’t ever want to think that it is by our power and the strength of our hands that have produced the prosperity and bounty that we enjoy. It helps to keep it all in proper perspective. And it is only by God’s grace, and teaching by our parents who passed down to us God’s truth to us that we are so blessed.

But there are consequences to making poor choices. One of which is constantly living in debt, owing everybody and their uncle, manipulating the check book, facing potential disaster if the car or heater breaks down, or the roof leaks, or you loose your job, or the kids need braces. Look at Deuteronomy 8:19, “If you ever forget the Lord your god and follow after other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that surely you will be destroyed.” And verse 20, “…you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.” Again as a nation we certainly are facing that possibility.

But I also want to tell you that there are tremendous blessings in being obedient to God’s truth. Malachi 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. ‘Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’”

I wish I had the power to convince you, but I don’t. All I can do is to tell you what God says, and to share with you my own story and walk with Jesus, and then it is up to the Holy Spirit to convict you and to convince you of God’s truth and God’s way.

There is a way that leads to life and God’s prosperity and I desperately want you to find it because it is so good. Never in my life have I regretted my decision to follow Jesus and live for Him.

I am a direct beneficiary of parents who loved the Lord. My Anglican grandparents were products of the Welsh revivals of the early 1900s prior to their coming to America. My dad was Church of Christ and after they married following WWII they found a good Methodist Church where they raised us kids. Very early on my parents taught us about giving to God’s work through our church. When my brother and I took on our first paying job as paperboys, my dad taught us to tithe and about saving--$1.00 for God, $1.00 for me, and $8.00 in the bank. Then I began to work at Myer & Stone’s Men’s Wear making a whopping $.85 an hour. I choose to tithe. I attended college and worked in the cafeteria making another $.85 an hour and with every excuse possible still chose to tithe my income. At seminary Sharon and I worked in the seminary’s dining hall and we got a huge raise at $1.25 per hour for 10 hours per week. And we tithed our income. It didn’t come easy. We sacrificed. My parents and Sharon’s parents sacrificed for our education. That is 7 years of college and seminary for me and 4 years for Sharon. Our lives exemplify the ABC’s of financial success: we have God’s attitude, we believe God’s promises, and we choose to follow God’s ways and will each day of our lives.

Several years ago a pastor friend of mine, and now a seminary professor, challenged us to go beyond the tithe. We did and we still do. Are we prospering? Absolutely…I am overweight and my garage is filled with junk. My body and my house can’t hold any more of God’s blessings. We have two kids who follow Jesus and they have always tithed. We taught them early to tithe, and they chose to tithe as adults. We are blessed.

I wish that I could tell you that if you don’t tithe, i.e. give 10% of your income to God, that you will go to hell. I can’t do that because I don’t see the Bible saying that. While there is the day of God’s judgment and hell is a reality, God wants us to obey Him not out of fear, but out of love. My frustration is that so many of you who should know better are not walking in obedience as far as your finances are concerned. I simply do not understand why you would prefer to eat Big Macs when God wants to give you a buffet of the best foods available. Some of you simply don’t know any better. This whole idea of giving 10% of your income to God is new to you and you might be absolutely shocked by it and even repulsed by it. Others know that you should tithe, but you refuse to do it. “To whom much is given, much is required.” If we claim the name of Jesus and call ourselves Christians, then God expects more out of us than He does those who are searching and seeking.

Do you want to be financially successful and get out of debt? The first thing is attitude—acknowledge the sovereignty of God over your life and money. Second, we need to be aware of and avoid debt—bondage. Third, choose to understand and practice the spiritual discipline of tithing your income back to God through the Church.

That’s not all folks. There is more in the next 3 weeks.

Thank You for Taking The Time to Read This Message.
May God Use These Words to Help You and Strengthen You.