Sept. 3 – Malachi 3:6-12
The Blessed Discipleship of Giving
Sept. 3 – Malachi 3:6-12
6 For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. 7 Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?”
8 Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, “How are we robbing you?” In your tithes and offerings! 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me—the whole nation of you! 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. 11 I will rebuke the locust for you, so that it will not destroy the produce of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not be barren, says the LORD of hosts. 12 Then all nations will count you happy, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.
This passage is one of the best known from Malachi. The focus is usually on vs. 10, that bringing the tithe, the offering to God, will mean that God will provide financial blessing. But I think it is worth seeing this in the larger context that starts back at vs. 6.
God states that it is God’s faithfulness (“I do not change” vs. 6) that has kept Judah secure. But that the people have again and again turned from God. God asks them to return to him, to come back to following him. When the people ask, “How would we do that?” That is when God brings the charge that the people have not been paying the tithe (10%) or providing offerings to God.
The call is to give to God and God’s work as a sign of commitment to God. Giving is a spiritual matter, it is a sign of being a follower of God. Research shows that this is true. Persons who attend church regularly (think pre-COVID) are more generous not only to their church but in all aspects of their lives. How generous a person is, is a sign of how faithful they are in following God. Our discipleship impacts our giving, if it does not, we need to ask ourselves how faithful we are as disciples.
Those who are generous do receive a blessing – yes, sometimes it is financial; but always there is the simple joy of being generous and the blessing of having given (it is more blessed to give). Those who are generous also receive more joyfully, for the recognize the giftedness of what they receive. Yes, to be generous is to receive a blessing.
PRAYER:
Lord God, draw us back to yourself and teach us to be generous. Give us the gift of generosity by your Holy Spirit, as you shape our lives as disciples of your Son Jesus Christ. May our discipleship be seen in our giving. In Jesus’ name. Amen.