ROBBING GOD? By Pastor Fernando

SCRIPTURE: Malachi 3:8-12

⁸ "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. ¹² "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

OBSERVATION

This is one of the strongest passages in the Bible. It's a big deal when God, who is always just and true, accuses His people of robing Him. The people of Israel were disobedient to the first instruction about stewardship. They were not bringing a full tithe to the house of God. Some were bringing less that what they should. Some were giving not the very best of their animals and crops, but they were giving their worse. They gave an impression of being generous and obedient, but in reality they were robbers. They tried to play a scam on God, but they were the only ones loosing because they placed themselves under a curse. However, on the other hand, people place themselves under an unbelievable blessing when they bring their tithes and offerings. God wants people to test Him about this.

APPLICATION

I honestly believe that the purpose behind God's accusation is not money. He owes it all and He does not need anything from us. His purpose is us. We are His precious treasure and He wants us under blessing, not under curse. When we have a tight grasp on money and we scheme to give less, when we are afraid that we will not have enough and decide to withhold our tithe, or when we simply avoid generosity and do not give sacrificial offerings above our tithes, we are robing God. Money becomes our idol, and God is not really who we worship. And for that, we are under a curse. We are not robing God's money. We are robing God's blessing. Our love for money is robing God from blessing us.

God does not want my money. He wants my obedience and sincere dependence on Him. Giving my tithe and offerings sets me under a blessing. God rejoices when His children are blessed and I don't want to rob Him that joy. Also as a senior pastor in our church, I must be creative and compassionate when teaching people about this. I love the people and I want them to live under a blessing, not under a curse. It's not about how much money the church can collect, but about how much joy we can bring to God when we place ourselves and thrive under His blessings.

PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the many times I robbed you, by giving less, or by giving not the best, or by giving late, or by giving to impress others. Please clean my heart and make me generous out of sincere obedience. Don't let me walk under a curse, but keep me in the path of blessing as I give my tithe, and on top of that, sacrificial offerings. Also help me to clear me communicate your heart to your people. There are many people suspicious about money and how churches and leaders use it. Let me address those suspicions with grace and integrity. Let me walk in reverence to you as a good steward of what you give me personally and of what you give to our church to advance your kingdom.