“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” (Malachi 3:10).
TEXT —Malachi 3:8-12
Message
There is a story of how seriously an elderly man took the issue of tithing in the assembly led by Charles Spurgeon, the influential English preacher of the 19th Century. The old deacon arrived late to the Sunday service when the sermon had already started. Concluding his message, the preacher asked the deacon to dismiss the service in prayer. Spurgeon repeated his request when no prayer came forth. But the old worshipper replied: “I will, pastor, just as soon as I put my offering in the plate back here. I cannot pray without first an offering to my God.” Later, Spurgeon said the deacon’s statement was the best sermon of the morning.
Giving our tithes and other offerings to the Lord must be preeminent in the believer’s service to their Creator. It is not a perfunctory duty but a must. Since it is God’s command similar to how the Ten Commandments that He issued in Moses’ day, we have to obey it uncompromisingly. Not doing so amounts to denying Him His dues in our covenant with Him. That is equivalent to robbing Him. The penalty, as in the secular system, is some form of punishment. In God’s order, the robber of tithes is cursed. Blessings, however, come the way of those who release their tenth to God.
The Christian’s tithing is not limited to money. We are to selflessly offer our time, skills, family, property (home, land, vehicle, etc.), and service to aid the work of the Lord. None of us in the Body of Christ is bereft of any gifts freely given to us by God. The first and most valuable offering He expects from us is our hearts, after which other dues can follow.
Giving according to how the Lord prospers us (1 Corinthians 16:2) suggests that no one is left out of God’s liberality. He has promised to use our giving as a point of contact to more blessings and victory over evil forces that might attempt to drain our joy through spiritual attacks, ill health, and business setbacks. We must trust Him to fulfill His word as we obey His instructions on tithes.
Thought for the day
If you’re not tithing, you’re tightening the channel of your blessings.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
