"Try It!"

Read Malachi 3:8-10
 
Malachi 3:10 “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”
 
The Daily Bible has three days’ readings about the summary of the Old Testament, the apocrypha and an introduction to the New Testament. We’ll study more of Malachi during this interlude before the gospels.
 
ONE of the rarest sermon topics, I believe, is the preaching on tithing. Oh, how we hate to be told how to spend our money! The god of wealth suffocates our giving spirit as we believe all we have comes from us and belongs to us. We’ll give to God what we decide, not what some preacher tells us to give. “All the church wants is my money,” is a common complaint of the church.
   There is good reason churches need to keep asking for funds to function. Statistics show only 2% of people who say, “I am a Christian. I believe the Bible is God’s Word.” tithe their money to God. If all Christians tithed, church finance meetings would not be about, “How do we raise money?” But the agenda would be, “How can we properly distribute God’s wealth?”
   Some will try to justify themselves by saying, “I tithe my time for God.” I’d like to ask, “Really? You spend an average of 2.4 hours each day serving God? Tell me what you do.” Even if you did serve the LORD in that way, that’s not God’s point here. He wants you to trust him with your most valued possession – your money.
   God wants your tithing to say, “I trust you. I believe your promise that tithing is a foundation of financial security. This is money you have given to me, and I give only 10% back to you. Thank you, LORD God Almighty, caretaker of all aspects of my life.” 
   This is what God wanted to hear from Israel. He is so adamant to reveal his blessings to Israel, he says, “Try it! Put me to the test!” At a critical point in Judah’s economic recovery from the exile, God, the Father, is telling his children, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!” God will flood Israel with his blessing just as he flooded the earth with water. Instead of death and judgment, this flood will bring life and blessing. All of their needs and more will overwhelm them. Israel will be able to fill the Temple storehouses in order to feed the poor and prepare for festivals. This will be a sign to God’s “family” that their Father in heaven will care abundantly for them if they are willing to trust him with the riches he has given to them!
   Tithing is to be a testimony: Malachi 3:12 “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. The best way to show God’s character is to live his Word. Obedient to tithe, a tiny nation would influence the mighty nations around it.
   This is true for you, too. Tithe and see how God will bless you. You will have food for your family, and you will bless others. God’s name will be known as you tell the ways God keeps his promises.