Malachi 3:10 ‘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.’

DAILY READING    John 20:19-31; 2 Chronicles 32; Psalm 88

In his book, Steps for New Converts, Dr. John R. Rice writes about an encounter the founder of ‘Duke and Ayers Nickel Stores’, H. Z. Duke, had with a missionary in Texas. One day this famous Baptist businessman, H. Z. Duke, came to Texas to urge the men and women there to give tithes and offerings and see if God would not make good His promises to bless them exceedingly. On this trip,  a missionary named Brother Kuykendal, was the one who drove Mr. Duke about in his horse buggy.

One day, H. Z. Duke asked Brother Kuykendal if he believed in tithing to which he replied that he did. Mr. Duke then asked him if he practiced tithing. He answered, “No, I do not. I believe in tithing, but I cannot practice it.’ He then went on to explain that he had thirteen children at home, his salary was very low and after attending to the needs of his family there was no money left to tithe. Mr. Duke then challenged him to set out to give God ten percent every month as soon as he got his salary. And if he found that what was left was not enough to meet the needs of his family. Dr  H. Z. Duke promised to give him back the amount he paid as tithe.

Brother Kuykendal was very excited at the offer and began tithing. That year, God took care of his needs in unexpected ways. Near the end of the year, he realized that God had proven His promises and had taken care of him and his big family on his small salary. He found out that the balance after he had paid his tithe each month took care of his family better than when he was not paying tithe.

Malachi 3:10 is the only place in the Bible where God tells us to  prove Him. God invites us to prove Him because the real issue is not money, but trust. When we decide to give a percentage of our income to the Lord, we then have the opportunity to trust His faithfulness to meet all of our needs. God wants to show Himself strong on your behalf. He wants to show Himself as El-Shaddai – The All Sufficient God. That’s why He asks us to prove Him with our tithes and offerings.

God is not so much after our money as He is concerned about the conditions of our heart. And how we manage money is a reflection of where our heart is. Indeed where your heart is there will your treasure be also.

While we are no longer under the Law, tithing is a good benchmark for believers to check their hearts towards God.  God looks at the heart, not the hand. He focuses on the giver, not the gift because the attitude is more important than the amount.

Your giving is a thermometer of your love. It’s not so much what you have but, rather, what has you that make all the difference. The practice of tithing is a good reminder of who’s in charge of your life. Ultimately, when you give, you are saying that you trust God to take care of your needs. For your giving, God promises in Malachi 3, He will open wide the windows of heaven and will pour upon you great  blessings. in other words, God will give us more than enough. The world says the more you take the more you have. God says, the more you give, the more you have. And as Corrie Ten Boom puts it: “The measure of a life is not its duration, but its donation.”

PRAYER: Lord, Please grant me the grace to always be faithful in the giving of my tithes and offerings. I Thank You Lord for opening for me the windows of heaven and blessing me exceedingly according to Your promise in Jesus’ name.

QUOTE:

The tests you are going through in life today is not for your destruction, it is for your testimony. – WORDBITE 222. 

– WORDBITE 222.