Malachi 3:10 is bandied about a great deal in sermons about stewardship and giving back to God generously. If you don't know it, it goes a little something like this.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (Malachi 3:10, NIV 1984)
There are so many wonderful things about this verse, and although I realize that it pre-dates the New Testament, I also believe that God's Promises are still pertinent today, especially when God talks about blessing obedience.
There is one very subtle nuance to this verse, however: the order in which the thoughts are presented. Notice that God requests obedience FIRST. He says "Test me in this...", then he makes the promise of unfathomable blessings.
I've approached this topic previously, in a post entitled "Out of Order", where I encourage people to stop trying to "wheel and deal" with God. I also talk about the fact that blessings FOLLOW obedience. We shouldn't approach God with an if-you-do-this-for-me-then-I'll-start-giving attitude, because that is entirely out of order.
The point of this post today is to talk about the fact that God could have presented this differently. He could have said, "I'm going to test you in this by pouring out blessings on you, and I'll see if you throw open your floodgates and bring the whole tithe in to the storehouse." Surely this would be easier for us. I mean, who wouldn't want an enormous and undeserved outpouring of blessing?
But there is a very specific reason why Malachi 3:10 is not reverse in this way: we are simply not terribly trustworthy. Knowing that human nature has not changed significantly over the past few millennia, I doubt this was much different in the days of Malachi. God, being the ultimate in wisdom knows that obedience cannot be bought. Obedience must be the cause and blessing must be the effect. It just doesn't work the other way around. Our nature sees to that.
So, as we continue this blog journey learning to give in these uncertain times, remember that God invites us to step out in faith and obedience. Only when we do that, will God open the floodgates of Heaven and bless us.
Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:
CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)
It
is also available to Amazon Prime members as a free eBook download as a
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can contact me directly at jesse@accidental-author.com to find out about discounts available for churches that wish to use this for teaching and small group curriculum.
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