We give God our relationships, our prayer life but we keep the money to ourselves.  But God says no.  God says that He wants to have a say so in our finances.  Why?  Does God want to tyrannize and  paralyze our plans for our money?   No.  God wants to keep you and me from financial fallout and He wants us to experience financial freedom.  So having said that, I want us to look today at Proverbs because the book of Proverbs gives us God’s plan, God’s agenda for financial freedom.  So whether you make billions, millions, thousands, or hundreds this message is for you.  You have got to have a plan.

I have got to have a plan.  And the plan I am going to share with you is the plan called, the give, give, live plan.  Look at your outlines at the first verse.  Proverbs 21:5, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”  The Bible says that the plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.  I would agree with that, wouldn’t you?

Fill in the first line with the word Give.  Give God 10%.  When I am paid and when you are paid, the first thing that we are to do is write a check out to a local house of worship.  We are to give the first fruits of our income to the Lord.  Proverbs 3:9-10.  “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the leftovers of all of your crops…..”   Let me read that again.  “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all of your crops….”  Not some, all.  People ask me sometimes, “Ed, I am really wondering about this.  Should I tithe on the net or the gross?”