As a society in today's world, we are taught that money is everything. We will spend 3/4 of our lives amassing money and things to make us comfortable for the last part of our lives. The Bible teaches us that, "Money is the root of all kinds of evil." 1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV. It does not say that money it's self is evil, but that it can lead to evil. There is nothing wrong with having vast amounts of money, the question is, where is the heart in great fortune? Where is the heart with little fortune? Today I want us to visit a passage of scripture that deals with fortune and where the heart is:
"Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try 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 such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. " Malachi 3:8-10 NKJV
Why does the Lord need my money? Aren't all things already His, including money? If so, then what is the reason for tithing? May I say to you, it has to do with your determination to trust, or not trust in the Lord. Let's start with this question: What things in your life are you giving the most of your money to? Your house, your car, your hobbies? Let's visit another question: How easy is it for you to pour your money out on these things and yet, how difficult is it for you to put into the offering plate?
Tithing has to do with how far we are really willing to place our trust in the Lord. It is easy for many of us to hit our knees and ask God for healing, a new job, marriage help, on and on. And our Lord, in His nature, will answer. And yet, the only thing that God really asks us to do is to trust Him. And to trust Him with all things! In this passage, God says to try Him and see if He will not take care of all that we need, so much so, that we will not be able to contain the blessing that He will pour out, if we would only do 1 thing: Give our tithes and offerings to Him, 1st, before any and all things. But why would the Lord use money? It is because money, in whatever form, is the way in which man has determined to be the necessity for acquiring status, life, material possessions. Most us of us, if we are totally honest, would agree that if we had just a bit more money, life would be a bit more pleasant. But then that bit more money becomes a need more and need more and need more as we spend and spend and spend to help us become secure, happy, healthy, etc. It is man's nature, the more you make the more you spend. But why is that so? It is because we are attempting to create a life of trust with the things around us, and yet, the Lord is there, waiting patiently for us to turn to and trust in Him. I stated earlier, we all will pray for God to do things for us, and in His nature, He will, because that is Who He is. And in return, God only asks us for one thing, our complete and total devotion and trust in Him. And He knows that the best way that we can learn to trust in Him is through our wallets. And this is because all of us will tend to trust in our financial status before we trust in Him.
By giving to God, regardless of the amount that is decided to give, we are taking the posture of trusting God to provide whatever is necessary for our survival. Oh how hard it is for us to give to the Lord in whom we cannot see! There! I said it! This is because we put our faith and trust in the things around us that we can see, including what is sitting in our bank accounts. And when that begins to run low, we panic and frantically search for that next fill up! It is so extremely easy for us to pray to the Lord for our health, our marriages, our job situations, because in reality, we are not giving away anything but our words. We are not letting go of anything that we can see. But for most of us, it is so extremely hard to give our tithes because we can physically see what we are giving away, and we cannot physically see Him that we are giving to. But, I ask you this, can you not really see Him? Think about that for a moment.
What is your heart condition today toward your money and your Lord? How easy would it be for you to start giving back to God what is owed to Him? What is stopping you from trusting the Lord with everything you have, including your money? Let me be clear on this one point because I know there are many teaching out there on this one thing: God doesn't what you to give to Him so that you can receive more, God wants you to give to Him because He loves you and wants you to trust Him completely for all things in your life, here and now! We cannot "buy" God's love. That is not what this is about. It is about dealing with a heart condition that we all have in trusting in the Lord. Jesus said it better than anyone, "You cannot love both God and money, for you will love one and despise the other." I challenge all of us today to make a decision to trust in the Lord for our well being starting by determining to give our tithes to the Lord. I challenge you to bring your tithe into the storehouse and see how the Lord will open the windows of heaven upon you.
I challenge us to trust in the Lord.
May the Lord richly bless you today!
H Trent
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