Today’s reading: Malachi 3-4; 1 Peter 4-5
This is a follow-up on what we talked about a couple days ago in Malachi 1, but when it comes to the expectation that God will act on our behalf, the exercise of faith comes first.
It is far too easy to treat the exercise of faith like money we are paying for a service rendered. In this mindset, we are only really willing to exercise faith if/when God acts first. I’m willing to give financially to the church or to missionaries, as long as I get that raise first so I have the extra money. I’m willing to make the time to serve someone, as long as someone has stepped in to help meet my needs first. Etc.
This is exactly what the Israelites were doing in Malachi’s day. Like we talked about in Malachi 1, they were bringing the worst of their flocks as offerings to God because they didn’t see Him acting on their behalf. And here, in Malachi 3, they are unwilling to bring the proper tithe because He has not blessed their crops. But this is not how faith works, and honestly, it wouldn’t be faith at all if it did work this way.
If I say, “Lord, give me that promotion and I will start giving some of the money that comes in with my raise,” where is the exercise of faith? There is none! I’m merely keeping up my end of the agreement and stepping up after I have already seen what happens. But what does God tell the Israelites?
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.
God expected Israel to trust Him first, and then He, in keeping with His promises to them, would bless them. And God has made these same promises to us as well.
How often did Jesus talk about the faithful steward who is rewarded with more to steward? When we show ourselves faithful with the resources God has already entrusted to us, He says that He will bless us and give us more to be faithful with in response. This is exactly what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9 as well:
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
God is not stingy, but He will not continuously pour out blessings when we are stepping out in faith.
God took the first step. He took the first step with Israel in making them a nation, bringing them out of Egypt, and giving them the promised land, but when the people refused to respond in continued trust, God withheld His blessings while He called them to step toward him in trust. So too, with us, He took the first step through the cross, allowing us to be restored in relationship with Himself and adopted into His family, but with that comes the expectation that we will live in increasing trust in Him. If we want to experience His promised blessings, we need to continue on in faithful trust.
No comments:
Post a Comment