To Him belongs all the riches

3:8 Can a person rob 15 God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! 16 3:9 You are bound for judgment 17 because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty. 18
3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse 19 so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. 3:11 Then I will stop the plague 20 from ruining your crops, 21 and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the Lord who rules over all. 3:12 “All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in 22 a delightful land,” says the Lord who rules over all. (Malachi 3:8-22)

Before I came back this semester, I was really having difficulty coming to terms when it came to tithing. I kept asking myself, 'Should I really be tithing when I'm not working now, when most of my income is from student loans and money I saved up?' I tried to come up with all sorts of rationalizations, but when Pastor Thomas came and spoke during the retreat I stopped trying to find the answers in myself, but looked to the word of God instead. Malachi makes it very clear here that no one is pulling the wool over God's eyes. I used to tell myself that I would start tithing again once I was working, but the truth is if we are not generous with a little, we won't be generous with a lot. We shouldn't view tithing as some sort of leech experiment, but an awesome opportunity to see God's kingdom furthered!

There is a true story of a Christian senator, Dr. Peter Marshall, who was confronted by a man who asked him, "I used to tithe regulary many years ago, but now I make $500,000 a year, and I obviously can't afford to give away $50,000 a year. So you see my problem."
The senator answered, "I certainly do. Let's pray about it." His prayer went something like: "Dear father, I pray that you will help reduce this man's salary to a point where is able to tithe again..."
The man quickly said "No, no don't pray that, I'll tithe, I'll tithe!"

Brothers and sisters, if you are anything like this guy, start praying and giving! We are not blessed because of what we have, we have what we have because we're blessed! I know as the economy gets worse (which it likely will before it ever gets better), this will be easier said than done, so let us learn this things now, before it gets even harder!