09/24/2025
OLD RED!
When I was in Bible school, my wife and I would go out into the hills of Missouri every Sunday morning and I would preach in a one-room schoolhouse. Farmers from all over that area would come. One little precious lady,
eighty-three years of age, would walk three miles, take her stockings off, and wade through a creek just to come and hear me preach. Even I wouldn't do that to hear me preach! (I was still learning how!)
She invited us to her home for dinner. She told us to park the car when we got to the creek and walk the rest of the way. We took our shoes off and waded through the creek, just like she did every Sunday. But that Sunday morning I was preaching on a difficult doctrinal subject—
tithing. I said, "Ten cents out of every dollar you ever get a hold of belongs to God."
There they sat, with smiles on their faces—which I knew was the wrong reaction. I wasn't getting the message through to them. So I said it again, and still they smiled. Finally it dawned on me, You know why they're smiling: They don't have any money, and 10 percent of nothing is nothing! So I have to come at it from another way.
It's amazing what comes out of you when you're anointed, I said, "If you have ten cows, one of those cows belongs to God." All the smiles left.
I knew they understood it now.
I said, "If you have 200 acres, 20 of them belong to God."
Nobody was smiling now.
After the service, a redheaded farmer came up to me, hands in his overall pockets. He said, "If my chickens lay 100 eggs every day, does God get 10 of the eggs?"
I said, "You got the message, brother. It's gratifying to know you got the message."
Without batting an eyelash, he looked me right in the eye and said, "You're not getting my eggs! Them chickens aren't laying anyway!"
I said, "You know why those chickens aren't laying?
Because you're robbing God! Those chickens can't even live a normal life!"
I didn't know how right I was. Remember, I was just learning. He looked at me and said, "You mean to tell me if I give God what belongs to Him, those chickens will lay more eggs? Wait here!"
He got into that pickup truck and went back to the farm and brought a brown sack full of eggs. He laid them down at the altar. He came back to me, hands still in his overalls, and said, "You going to be here next Sunday?"
I said, "Yes, sir."
He said, "This better work!"
I was so young in the Lord, I didn't know whether it was going to work or not. I went back to the Bible that week. I didn't get much studying done. But I got a whole lot of praying done. I was praying, "Lord, bless those
chickens! Lord, give them a double portion! Let them lay double yolks, Lord!"
The next Sunday, my wife and I headed out to that little town. I said, "Honey, do you see anybody standing in that schoolhouse?"
She said, "I believe somebody's there."
I said, "Does it have red hair?"
She said, "I'm not close enough to see that, yet."
Sure enough, it was Red waiting for me. But I couldn't see his face. I didn't know whether he was mad or glad. I brought my old DeSoto to a halt and pulled on the emergency brake. Old Red came running to the car. I don't ever like to be at a disadvantage, so I jumped out of the car. He grabbed hold of me and started dancing me around that DeSoto.
"Preach, man, it worked, brother!" he cried. "Praise
God, it worked! It worked!"
I breathed easy for the first time all week. Then I looked around and said, "Hold it, Red, wait! Where's the tithe?" I believed I had a right to ask him for that. I said, "If we made the thing work, where's the tithe?"
Hands still in his overalls, he said, "In there, at the altar, Preach. Brought 'em early today."
I walked into that one-room schoolhouse, and sitting in front of that altar was a whole crate of eggs—twenty-five dozen. I looked at him and said, "What did you do, bring them all?"
His hands were still in his overalls. "Just the tithe, Preach. Just the tithe." From a brown sack to twenty-five dozen!
He threw his arms around me and said, "Preacher, I ain't going to rob God no more."
I looked at him and said, "Me neither."
I believe we've all had an apple out of that bag. Then we wonder why we're not blessed.
God rewards obedience.
- RW SHAMBACH (You Can't Beat God Givin')
- JESUS SAVES TV
