How The Lord Generously Provides

When I first heard about the book of Malachi, I thought it was written by an Italian. I never heard of Malachi, let alone the tithe principle. At first, I wasn't too excited about giving ten percent of my income (a tithe) to the Lord. Maybe it was because I was already in the hole every month. For the longest time I thought ‘tithing’ was spelled ‘teething’. To get me to tithe was like pulling teeth. However, I knew I should be giving ten percent (because my wife told me so), so I started the process. I'm sure glad I did. 

Malachi is the name of the prophet who wrote the last book of the Old Testament. The tithe principle is found there, although the precedent was set long before by Abraham's offering to Melchizedek. The idea of offerings to God goes way back, even to Cain and Abel, the first 2 sons of Adam and Eve.

The tithe is not given because we want to make sure the preacher is paid, or the church building's electric bill is paid, etc. Those things are important but are really secondary benefits. Think about the Old Testament animal sacrifices. They were for atonement of sins, although secondarily, it benefitted the priests because they were permitted to eat the meat as their provision. Don't get the proper perspectives mixed up.

The tithe is not conditional. In other words, we are not to give our offering only if things are going good, or if we have our budget under control, or if we get a big paycheck. We are not to withhold our tithe. If we do, God feels that we are robbing Him or what is rightfully His - that we are taking His portion and using it for ourselves. Not good!

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. (Malachi 3:8-9)

The tithe is a proper offering to God (ten percent of what we acquire) that demonstrates 3 things: 

(1) Our acknowledgment of Him

All things come from God, and that everything we have, our talents and abilities, as well as the opportunities that come our way are from God's hand. Therefore, all we are offering to Him is simply a portion of what He has first given us to begin with. 

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand." (1 Chronicles 29:14)

(2) Our trust in Him

By giving Him ten percent right off the top, even in tough times, we show our trust that He will somehow provide the rest and make up the difference and more. It demonstrates our faith in Him - that He will provide everything we need. 

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

(3) Our honor to Him

A tithe demonstrates our honor to Him - our reverence to our King who is the object of our worship and our loyalty. 

“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” (Proverbs 3:9)

The good news is that if we properly tithe, God promises to bless us, and bless us abundantly. He even challenges us to test Him on it. 

"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 there will not be room enough to store it." (Malachi 3:10)

Looking back, I’ve learned that the promises of God found in Malachi do not necessarily equate to financial gain. It seems like more years than not, our family barely got by from month to month. We still committed to the tithe. It was during the times I needed provision the most is when God stepped up to his promises.

For my family, here's how God provided and blessed us as we faithfully tithed...He wouldn't let anything I had wear out! He sustained everything so that I didn't need money to replace or repair anything. Time and time again, this became obvious to the point of being ridiculous. When we couldn’t afford appliances or vehicles, he would sustain what we had far beyond the normal life expectancy. He seemed to make our material things last forever. 

I've owned 3 vehicles that lasted well over 200,000 miles. Our water pump for the house lasted 23 years and it was preowned when I originally bought it. Our ceiling fan runs continually every day of the year. We put it in 42 years ago. Even our cat, Bob, lived for 20 years!

Don’t get me wrong, I do have things that break down. I recall when my wife’s glasses snapped in half. It happened three weeks before the six month warranty ran out. I remember my satellite tv receiver dying, and the next day unexpectedly receiving an offer in the mail to receive a free unit upgrade. Once, my daughter’s laptop hinge broke a week before the one year warranty ran out. I could go on and on. He didn’t bless me with abundant wealth, but he sure helped out with my spending plan over the years and faithfully got me through the lean times.

The blessings I attribute to God goes way beyond all those material things. I’ve experienced the promise from Malachi 3:10, “...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”. Over the years God has poured so many blessings in my life I can’t count them all. My wife, my family, my church, my friends, and so many answered prayers. How He has intervened in my life and how His providence is demonstrated time and time again continues to amaze me. 

Honoring God with your tithe is just part of the big picture. Honoring Him with your life makes your devotion complete. When you honor God, He will bless you beyond what you could possibly imagine. There is no doubt about this. The more He blesses, then the more you want to honor and serve Him. The more you honor and serve Him, the more He blesses. And the wonderful, unending cycle goes on and on forever.