Offering Thought

Here is an offering thought.  We do not desire your money.  Our concern is your soul and your relationship with Jesus Christ.  If you are not saved, then please do not give money without first giving your heart to the Lord.  God wants your heart before He ever wants anything else.  With that said Christians let’s learn from God’s Word a lesson about Biblical Finances.

Malachi 3:8-11

A tithe is the first 10% of our income.  It comes right off of the top.  I’ll use nice round numbers to illustrate.  Say if I make a $100 before taxes, then $10 is the tithe or the portion that belongs to God.  If I give more than the tithe, then that is called an offering.  Our passage asks the question, “Will a man rob God?”  If we don’t give God our tithes and offerings, then we are robbing God. 

Verse 10.  “Bring ye all the tithes into the  storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.”  We are to give our tithes to the local church and not TV evangelists or Radio ministries.    Notice this verse doesn’t limit where our offering go, but it does limit our tithes to our local church.

You might say, but I can’t afford to give back to God 10% of what He has given me.  To that I say I can not afford not to give to God based on verses 10 & 11.

There is a great promise when we become faithful to God in our finances by giving Him tithes and offerings.  “Prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, If I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”  God asks us to test Him, see if He tells the truth.  We know that God always tells the truth, so we know that we will be blessed if we give to God out of a heart of love.  For “God loveth a cheerful giver”. God’s blessings may be financial and they may be in other non-financial areas, but rest assured when you tithe God will bless you. He promises to rebuke the devourer or Satan, because we honor Him from the first fruits of all our increase.  When we fail to tithe we rob God and we rob ourselves from the blessings of God.  For this promise to work we first must be a child of God.  So today consider this thought when you prepare your hearts for our time of offering.