Malachi 3
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
Tithing is a pretty simple commandment. There is not a whole lot of wiggle room (except for the whole, net vs. gross issue). You either do it or you don't. Anyway, I was reading these verses and a few things stood out to me.
1. I believe the Lord always fulfills His part of promises. He promises here that he will "open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. So if I pay my tithing then this has, and is, happening. The fun part was looking for blessings that amount to my not having "room enough to receive" them.
2. In verse 11 it mentions the "devourer". Who or what is that? If God rebukes the devourer, will we be rich? Or does this apply to both spiritual and temporal things? And if both temporal and spiritual can you give me examples that qualify for vs. 11?
3. Vs. 12 mentions a "land". Is this just the "Church" or if all people in America lets say, paid tithing, would we be doing a little better economically?
Anyway, it never ceases to amaze me how a few scriptures can consume and occupy my mind. These quiet moments of pondering are when it is most likely that I hear/feel the quiet whisperings of the Lord.
1 Kings 19
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
Big UP!
The Lamanite
3 comments:
Paying tithing for the first time is like a tug o' war. The second is like unto the first. Soon it becomes an act of mere repetition. However, once the testimony of tithing is realized, it is looked forward to anxiously never looking back. At least that is how it went for me.
I hate that I know that when you pay tithing you are blessed and once you do it for a while it really does become easier. For me though it's like my working out I know once I start I love it and once I do it for a while its easy to do its just getting started that kills me. I guess I better though or else whats going to kill me is the whole cleanse by fire deal!!!
Devourer? Doesn't that include anything that would get in your way of peace and happiness. I don't necessarily mean money. General living is devoured by time constraints, loud interference that deafens us from the spirit, health related issues. All of these things ultimately rob us of something.
I'm sure that the obedience demonstrated by a consistent full tithe is that which helps us to conquer these ills and restores the sanctity of our good living. Fire insurance yes, monetary explosions, probably not.
Amen to what ms. dottie said. I think that I still have that same mind set with regards to other things as well. For example, I catch myself willingly and knowingly not praying for patience or humility. I know I'll be blessed for it, but it's a major deterrent to get to the blessing. Tithing definitely gets easier, but other things are a bit difficult. I guess that's why we keep on trying; to make all righteous things easier and more second nature in order to overcome the pains, literal and figurative of mortal living.
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