ARE YOU ROBBING GOD?
“Are you a robber?” A question that may sound harsh, even offensive, to many people. After all, who among us would consciously and openly admit that we are robbers?
We often imagine a robber as someone carrying a weapon, wearing a mask, breaking into houses, or hijacking vehicles to take other people’s possessions. But in the light of God’s Word, the meaning of “robbing” can go much deeper, touching unseen spiritual aspects of our lives.
Let us reflect more deeply on how, knowingly or unknowingly, we may have robbed God—and how His grace is still available for us.
I. Withholding Tithes: Robbing Holy Blessings
Malachi 3:8 says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.”
God Himself spoke about His people robbing Him—not with weapons or violence, but through negligence, disobedience, and unwillingness to return what belongs to Him. The word “rob” here comes from the Hebrew ????? (qaba?), which literally means to rob, seize violently, or plunder.
When we withhold tithes—whatever the excuse—we are not merely withholding money; we are withholding glory, blessings, and opportunities for God’s Kingdom to grow. We are robbing God of His rightful portion of the blessings that come from Him. We rob others of the chance to hear the gospel. We rob heaven’s treasury.
The Spirit of Prophecy counsels in Counsels on Stewardship, p. 66:
“As did Abraham, they are to pay tithe of all they possess and all they receive. A faithful tithe is the Lord’s portion. To withhold it is to rob God. Every man should freely and willingly and gladly bring tithes and offerings into the storehouse of the Lord, because in so doing there is a blessing. There is no safety in withholding from God His own portion.”
Abraham, the father of faith, gave tithes as an act of faith and honor. So when we withhold it, it is not only a financial issue but a spiritual one—revealing whom we truly worship: God or possessions.
II. Forgetting the Sabbath: Stealing God’s Holy Time
Exodus 20:8–11 says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
The Sabbath belongs to the Lord. Blessed and sanctified since creation, it is a sign between God and His people. Ellen G. White wrote in Child Guidance, p. 529:
“When the Sabbath commences, we should place a guard upon ourselves, upon our acts and our words, lest we rob God by appropriating to our own use that time which is strictly the Lord’s.”
The Sabbath is not only about ceasing from labor but about setting time apart for God. When we ignore it, we rob Him of the time He sanctified for communion with Him. We may spend it sleeping, vacationing, chasing profit, or simply idling.
By doing so, we also rob ourselves of the spiritual blessings promised to those who honor the Sabbath.
As Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 701 states: “Everything that can possibly be done on the six days which God has given to you, should be done. You should not rob God of one hour of holy time. Great blessings are promised to those who place a high estimate upon the Sabbath and realize the obligations resting upon them in regard to its observance.”
III. Neglecting Worship: Ignoring Growth Opportunities
Corporate worship is not mere routine. It is the fellowship of the body of Christ—a place for spiritual growth, faith strengthening, and love in community.
Hebrews 10:25 exhorts us: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Yet today many neglect worship—whether due to worldly pursuits, business, work, or even laziness.
In Christian Service, p. 214 we read: “Some, fearing they will suffer loss of earthly treasure, neglect prayer and the assembling of themselves together for the worship of God, that they may have more time to devote to their farms or their business. They show by their works which world they place the highest estimate upon. They sacrifice religious privileges, which are essential to their spiritual advancement, for the things of this life, and fail to obtain a knowledge of the divine will. They come short of perfecting Christian character, and do not meet the measurement of God. They make their temporal, worldly interests first, and rob God of the time which they should devote to His service. Such persons God marks, and they will receive a curse, rather than a blessing.”
We rob God of His time. We rob fellow believers of encouragement. And we rob ourselves of the spiritual strength that can only be gained in His presence and fellowship.
IV. Neglecting Health: Robbing God’s Temple
Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 says: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
God created us not merely to live but to glorify Him with our bodies and souls. When we disregard health—through diet, lifestyle, or harmful habits—we rob God.
Ellen G. White wrote in Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, p. 12: “Sickness is the result of violating nature’s law. Our first duty, one which we owe to God, to ourselves, and to our fellowmen, is to obey the laws of God. These include the laws of health. If we are sick, we impose a weary tax upon our friends, and unfit ourselves for doing our duty either in the family or to our neighbors. And when premature death is the result, we bring sorrow and suffering to others; we deprive our neighbors of the help we might have rendered them; we rob our families of the comfort and help which they should have received from us, and rob God of the service he claims of us to advance his glory. Then are we not, in a high sense, transgressors of God’s law?”
She also said in Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 71: “Some do not exercise control over their appetites, but indulge taste at the expense of health. As the result, the brain is clouded, their thoughts are sluggish, and they fail to accomplish what they might if they were self-denying and abstemious. These rob God of the physical and mental strength which might be devoted to His service if temperance were observed in all things.”
Thus, caring for our health—through proper diet, rest, and temperance—is an act of worship.
V. Misusing Strength: Robbing God of Glory
Our strength, time, talents, and abilities are God’s gifts. We belong to Him not only by creation but also by redemption.
1 Corinthians 10:31 reminds us: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
But how often do we use these gifts only for ourselves? For personal glory, worldly ambitions, or even destructive habits?
In Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 16 we read: “The living organism is God’s property. It belongs to Him by creation and by redemption; and by a misuse of any of our powers we rob God of the honor due to Him.”
A Call to Repentance
If we are honest and reflect on these truths, we will find that in many ways, we all have robbed God—not necessarily through outward crimes, but through spiritual negligence, selfishness, and unfaithfulness.
Like Paul we may cry out in Romans 7:24: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
But this realization is not to leave us in despair—it is to bring us to grace. Praise God, the story does not end with accusation.
The gospel is good news, for there is a way out. Romans 7:25 declares: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Jesus came not to condemn, but to save. He knew our failures, yet He offers forgiveness. On the cross, He bore the penalty of all our spiritual robbery.
Luke 23:42–43 gives us a powerful picture of repentance and grace: “Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’”
Here is unconditional forgiveness for anyone who repents and believes—even for us, spiritual robbers.
Conclusion
Matthew 3:2 proclaims, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Repentance is not mere regret but a turning away from sin into obedience. God calls us to stop robbing Him and to live for Him. He calls us to be faithful in tithes, to honor the Sabbath, to love worship, to care for health, and to use all we have for His glory.
Our lives are not our own—we have been bought with a price. Let us live as faithful stewards, not as spiritual robbers. And as we choose repentance, His grace will restore, renew, and strengthen us.
So—are you a robber? If your answer is yes, then it is time to pray: “Lord, forgive me.” And just like the thief who hung beside Jesus, we too shall hear His promise:
“You will be with Me in Paradise.”
Amen.
