Blessed To Be A Blessing
Malachi 3:10
10Bring 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.”
Introduction
The word “Give” was mentioned 869 times in the Bible while the word ”Gave” was mentioned 633 times. The word “Offer” was mentioned 123 times, while the word “Offered” was mentioned 90 times. “Tithe” was mentioned 13 times and finally “tithes” 15 times.
Overall, the idea of giving or being generous was mentioned 1,713 times, thus making this as one of the most highly emphasized themes in the Bible. This is why no matter what they say against tithing or giving or as becoming generous as they say it to be “unscriptural”, never and do not believe in them. And even if until now, you do not believe about the idea of becoming generous, I do hope that our simple word search will give you the idea of how important this is to our Lord.
I tried comparing the word “love” or the idea of “to love”, the word love was mentioned 513 times while the word loved was mentioned 89 times and finally the word “loves” 68 times. Overall, it sums up to 670 times. Note that “LOVE” is the central theme of the Bible but the idea of giving and becoming generous as a practical application of love was indeed given a great emphasis in the Bible.
Knowing all these, we will discuss God’s plan for us in lined with generosity and financial freedom.
God’s Plan For All The People
That We Will Be Blessed
Genesis 12:2-3 2“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
This is what we know as the Abrahamic Promise, which is God’s promise to Abraham. Try to look for our relation within inside the promise. In verse three, the people who blesses Abraham will be blessed and those who will curse him will be cursed. And in the last sentence, clearly says that “ALL PEOPLE ON EARTH will be blessed through you.”
This promise was fulfilled when Christ came to save all the people (Galatians 3:14). Let us try to see some inner truths in this passage.
As we can see here in the passage, God used Abraham for His ultimate purpose, to become a blessing to all peoples on earth. For him to become a blessing, he was blessed first by God. This is why God said in verse 2, “I will make you into a great nation.
The same thing is true to us. God blessed us in every way at the first hand to become a blessing, to be generous in every way.
In the Bible, you will always see the analogy of sowing seeds and harvesting in comparison to giving and receiving. In agriculture, no farmer harvests without even planting. There should be a plant, planted by the farmer, and in the proper time, he will reap a harvest.
Note this, God gave us the seed to plant. He blessed us first for us to learn how plant seeds. The seed that God gave us, is not only for self consumption, but also for planting. Similarly, a farmer does not sell all he harvested nor eat everything he harvests. He will set aside something for sowing, and then set aside something for consumption and selling.
Deuteronomy 8:18 18But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. Who gives the ability of the people to produce wealth? It is God who gives us the seed to sow and plant. It is not even us who produce the seeds to plant, it is God.
All we have to do is to learn how to plant seeds. Sometimes, God gave us seeds but instead of sowing it, we try to eat it. So instead of multiplying, we try to consume it. This is why many of us is still as if we are engulf with poverty.
That We Will Become A Blessing
2 Corinthians 9:11 is one of my most favorite verses when it comes to this lesson. It says: “11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” Here we see a picture of us, being enriched by God, in every way. So that, it is for a purpose, we can be generous on every occasion.
God blessed us so that we will become generous on every occasion. Note the context of the passage. We can see here that Paul is actually talking about giving, about God’s economy about sowing and reaping principle.
God’s economy is very different from our economy. Our economy tells us to save money, to keep something for us to use. To be frugal, and as much as possible to use money only for the things needed. God’s economy tells us on the other hand, that we have to be generous, help those who are in need, to give things away for God’s glory, to support God’s work and to support God’s workers.
In our personal point of view, God’s economy is like a waste of money, while for some it is totally an abuse. One of the controversial issues right now is about forbidding the passing of the offering inside the Church. Congresswoman Garin of Iloilo is trying to make a bill to prohibit the church to pass the offering plates 2 times. I am not a politician, but I believe that it is my responsibility to protect the gospel, in which one of the things that it teaches is to be generous.
Fellow pilgrims, do not be deceived by these kinds of people. We have to know how to work with God’s economy. If you know how a farmer plants and harvests, in the same way, we have to plant seeds in the spiritual Kingdom so that later on we will reap a harvest.
Conclusion
God never forces his people to give. In fact, the Bible said that it is a requirement for us to give. The thing is, God wants us to learn how to be generous by heart.
Three days ago, as I am watching the 700 Club Asia, I was deeply blessed by the testimonies of some people who tested God in giving. Indeed, what they have greatly multiplied that they themselves does not have enough room for it.
The Lord said in our passage; “Test me in this.” Let us bring the whole tithes and offering. And guess what, the Lord himself gave a promise, “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.”
