Malachi 3:7-12 (NASB)
“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts. “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the LORD of hosts.
Devotional:
Tithing can be a touchy subject for some. We all say we trust God. We talk about faith and trust all the time. However, when it comes to tithing all too often we fall short. We look at the numbers and logically they just don’t add up. No matter how hard you try two plus two just doesn’t add up to six. It can’t be done. Then out of nowhere someone brings up Malachi chapter three. Oh if you just give God ten percent He will pour out His blessings. After all Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” We are sold on the ideas that if I give God ten percent without fail; then He will give me much more in return. God becomes a lottery winning.
The truth is we are to give with a cheerful heart. 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” We make the mistake of tithing for reasons of “the law.” We tithe because we must, it is a duty. Somehow we have lost sight of God in our tithing. Why do we tithe then? For starters we are told to tithe, in the Old Testament. Tithing was set at ten percent of the first fruits, not necessarily money. It included crops and livestock among other things. Tithing was meant to support the Levites; today we would say the church. I feel what is more important about tithing is our honoring God. We are giving God back the first fruits of our labors whether it is money or something else. When we tithe we acknowledge that what we have has been given to us by God. It is not ours but His. He has entrusted us with the things He has given us. Look at Acts 4:32, “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.” Acts 4:34 “For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales” Tithing is not meant to be just a ten percent offering. Tithing is a gift that is best given with a joyful heart. Tithing is of our money, our time, and our talents. It is our tithing that supports the church. Through our offerings God’s work is accomplished. For example the church is able to open doors for the people. People are able to go on missions because of offerings given to God. Benefits of tithing include feeding the hungry, clothing those with nothing to wear, providing homes to the homeless, medical aid to those without. The list goes on and on. Without our gifts none of these things can happen. Why? God uses us to do His work. He gives to us so that we can give to others, and back to Him. Tithing is necessary. Through our tithing, or offerings, we are honoring God.
Do you give so that you can get rich? Do you give so that God will open the windows of heaven? By the way other references to the windows of heaven in the bible are rain. God pours out water or rain upon the land, see Genesis 7:11, Genesis 8:2, Isaiah 24:18. Could it be that when God said he would open the windows of heaven He meant He would bless the people by rainfall? After all if you are a farmer what better blessing than having an abundance of water for your crops…
No comments:
Post a Comment