“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!” You ask: “How do we rob you?”
“By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. You are suffering under a curse, yet you-the whole nation-are still robbing Me. Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Then all the nations will consider you fortunate, for you will be a delightful land,” says the LORD of Hosts.       Malachi 3:8-11 HCSB

Attorneys make billions of dollars every year going into court fighting for the equitable distribution of assets in failed partnerships including marriages. If we partner with someone we expect to put half in and get half out. Yet, in our partnership with God we often expect to take and are happy to give nothing in return. Well, my friend, it just doesn’t work that way. In our scripture passage today God is warning the Israelites that their idol worshiping and lack of faith have caused them to turn away from His statutes and He is encouraging them to return to Him. They worshiped idols and gave sacrifices to idols. Don’t we do the same thing? We pour our time and our money into material things or into activities or hobbies, but we can’t even give God the ten percent that He asks for. We are literally robbing God.

We know that every good gift is from above (James 1:17). God only asks that we return ten percent to Him, but how often do we rob Him? Now some of you may tithe, but I want you to look at your paycheck and look at your tithe amount. Is it ten percent? Or, do you short God just a little bit? Do you feel that you can’t afford to give God the ten percent that he asks of you?

And what about your time. We are told in Ephesians 5:15-17 that we should make wise use of our time because the days are evil. Are you making wise use of your time? Do you fail to attend church, study your Bible and pray because you think you just don’t have the time? Are you robbing God when it comes to your time?

Our scripture passage tells us that if we will give a FULL ten percent to God that He will open up the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for us too big to measure. If we are not giving God a full ten percent, then aren’t we really robbing ourselves?

I can tell you from personal experience that even when your calculator tells you that you can’t afford to give ten percent that you cannot afford not to give ten percent. You see, if you will only trust God and give him the first ten percent of all monies that you earn, He will see to it that you never go without what you need. Take that leap of faith and trust in Him. I have done it and I can promise you that you will never regret it.

Now, about your time. I know that many of you are busy raising kids and working at least one job and think that you just don’t have time for God. Well, my friend, God will do the same with your time. I used to work a super stressful job that seemed to demand 27 hours of every 24 hour day. I learned the hard way that by giving God the first ten percent, that He would make it all work out. Now right here, some of you are saying ten percent? That’s over an hour a day! Well, if you just give 10-20 minutes in the morning before your day gets going and then give a few minutes every hour like maybe just a quick prayer of thanksgiving you will be amazed at how God will guide you smoothly through the most hectic of days. When we add in a Bible study group and a church service or two, our ten percent is covered for the week.

God only asks for ten percent. In the grand scheme of things, ten percent is very little. This leaves you 90 percent. I think He’s being more than fair don’t you? So, you can continue to rob God, which is actually robbing yourself, or you can give the full ten percent and be blessed beyond measure. It is a no brainer when you think about it. Just do it and see for yourself.

Have a great day!