A Hint of Tithing?

# 340 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 25:2-6, “Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. And he was of the house of Caleb. 4“And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 And David sent ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: 6 and thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be unto thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. (1 Sam 25:2-6) Here's what we know so far about this story. Nabal was rich and foolish. He was a harsh man and evil in his doings. His wife Abigail was beautiful and wise. David hears that Nabal and his shepherds are shearing sheep. This is a festive time for shepherds, it is a time of harvesting of the wool. It's payday! David sends ten men to Nabal with the intention of asking Nabal for a gift. I find the number ten interesting. Is it somehow related to the tithe? Admittedly, that's a bit of a stretch, but a portion of what had been earned by Nabal would've gone to what ten men could carry. That's ten portions, and isn't that what a tithe is? But more importantly, check out their greeting to Nabal. Threefold peace. Peace to you, peace to your house, and peace to all your possessions.” His prayer is that Nabal will continue to be undisturbed, blessed on all fronts. These ten men come to Nabal and his prosperity in the name of David. Jesus comes to us in His name in our own God-given prosperity, namely peace on all fronts. This peace has been granted by grace through faith in Him, and in our prosperity, He like David asks for us to give from our prosperity to Him. How will Nabal respond? More importantly, how will you and I respond to God's gift of peace? “Father, thank You for the peace that passes all understanding. May we cherish it and continually thank You for it!”