Luke 2:21

Luke 2:21 says, And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.  At His circumcision, which was also when babies were named, Mary's Son was named Jesus, in accordance with what the angel had told her.  Verse twenty-two adds, And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;  At the time prescribed by God's law, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Jerusalem to the temple to present Him to God.  They could have felt that since Jesus was the Son of God that they were exempt from following the God's law, but they didn't.  Today, being a follower of Christ does not exempt us from following God's laws either.  We do not follow them for salvation but for obedience.  Verse twenty-three continues, (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)  Under God's law, the first born male was sacred to the Lord.  God still expects us to dedicate to Him the first and the best of everything He blesses us with.  Of course, the bottom line is that everything we have as Christians should be dedicated to God.  Verse twenty-four concludes, And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.  Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born in a manger, and then to Jerusalem to dedicate Him to God, and they were still required to present the prescribed sacrifice to God.  We may at times feel that we have done so much for God that we should be exempt from giving tithes and offerings, but that is not the case.  We still need to give to God what His word tells us to give.