Stealing From God

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Malachi 3:6-12

TO CHEW ON: “'You are under a curse – the whole nation of you – because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'” Malachi 3:9,10

“You are robbing God!” Malachi’s words got the peoples’ attention. But how could he say that? They weren’t stealing from the temple.

“You are stealing from God by keeping the tithe for yourselves instead of giving it to Him,” Malachi explained.



A tithe is one tenth. Years earlier God had commanded the people to give one tenth of what they earned and grew (their harvest and their herds of animals) to God. They were to do this whether they were rich or poor and whether times were good or bad. Giving to God in this way showed that they trusted God to supply what they needed. It was also a way of saying thank you for all He had given them. And when they did this, miraculously they always had enough.



Now instead of giving God His tenth, they were spending it on themselves. This was the reason they were having problems with crop failures and pests, Malachi explained. But if they would again give God a tenth, He would bless them with plenty.

Does God still expect us to tithe today? We don’t follow the other laws God gave the Israelites, so why should we tithe?

Though it’s true we no longer keep the Old Testament laws, giving one tenth of all we get to God is still an excellent thing to do.

To whom do we give it? Many Bible teachers agree that we should give our tithe to the place we get our spiritual food – the church we attend. We give the tithe because God promises to bless us if we do. But we also give it because it is a physical way to show that we trust God and are thankful for all He gives us.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to make it a habit to give You a tenth of all I get. Amen.


MORE: Tithe math
How much is one tenth? Calculating the tithe is easy. It simply means dividing the amount of money you’ve received by 10, or moving the decimal point one place to the left.

Suppose you earned an allowance of $5.00 and you want to tithe it. How much would you give?
$5.00 ÷ 10 = $.50 (or 50¢)
What is the tithe of:
1. $6.60

2. $10.98

3.$78.00

4. $150.00


ANSWERS

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Soap and Fire

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Malachi 3:1-5

TO CHEW ON: "But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? for he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Malachi 3:2,3a

"Malachi" by J. James Tissot

Ezra’s revival soon cooled. The joy of being back in Jerusalem evaporated. Life was hard for the exiles. They didn’t get rich quickly, as some had thought they would. Many felt disappointed with God. Their disappointment showed in the way they no longer respected Him. Instead they lived to please themselves.

No longer did the Levites teach the truth. Men divorced their aging wives and married beautiful young foreign women to take their places. People lied, cheated workers out of wages and were mean to immigrants. That’s when the prophet Malachi came on the scene.

“God will return to His temple one day,” he said. “He will come suddenly and purify His people, like soap washes clothes clean or a searing fire burns impurities out of gold and silver.”


Through Malachi God told the people that He saw their careless living and were aware of the ways they broke His laws. Malachi gave them a warning to change their ways. But if they didn’t have a change of heart on their own, they could be sure that God would clean things up – and it wouldn’t be pleasant.

God still works in the two ways we see here. His patience shows in the way He sends warning after warning before judging us. But someday His patience will run out. Then we will see His judgment – as strong as soap and as hot as fire. If there are things in our lives that God doesn’t approve of, let’s take advantage of God’s patience. Let’s confess our sins to Jesus and accept His forgiveness now so we don’t have to fear His coming later.

PRAYER: Dear God, please show me the things in my life that don’t please You. Help me to deal with them now. Amen.


MORE: Soap
Through books and the internet find out about soap.

- What ingredients are used to make soap?



- How does soap make things clean?

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 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.