Malachi 3:8-10 (NASB)
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!
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.

Not much has changed since the time of the prophet Malachi, where he reminds Israel of their willful disobedience of God. This was around 430 B.C and Israel had turned away from God’s commands. They were not bringing their first fruits into the temple, but rather what little they did bring was worthless in God’s sight. Most Christians today are no different. Only a small percentage bring their tithe into the church today.

Today, Malachi 3:10 is often misused in “progressive” churches that preach a prosperity message. The motivation to tithe that is taught has nothing to do with God’s love and His commandments, but rather only on the financial blessing that they are promised. Those tithes are also worthless in God’s sight.

When I hear of this, I am reminded of the Laura Story song, “Blessings”, where she sings…

“What if your blessings come through rain drops,
What if Your healing comes through tears,
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near,
What if Trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise.”

Pray with me that each of us will bring the entire tithe into Christ’s church, so we can experience the overflowing blessings that God has in store for us. May we pray that the blessing we seek is God’s will for us and not something that we want. May He give us what we need instead, even if it is rain drops or tears. For then we will be truly blessed because we will know that He is near. Pray for God’s mercies, and trust in them even if they might seems disguised to us at the time.

Praises and thanksgiving to Him who loves us so much that He only wants what is good for us.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Chris McKean