Participating in God's Economy

It's great to dig into the Word to pull His promises out and claim them for ourselves.

But God is not a magic genie and the bible isn't a lamp that you rub to get what you want and it's important that we don't approach Him that way.

DO believe what God says and DO expect His provision, but ALSO consider what God asks of you in His Word.

Malachi 3:10 reads:

Bring 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.

This next question may make you uncomfortable:

Do you tithe?

The Bible has a lot to say about giving and introduces the concept of giving God the first fruits of any harvest.

A title is generally considered to be a 10% offering off the top of your income and offerings are gifts made above that.

There's opinions on whether that's 10% of the gross or the net of course and I have to admit I lean towards net but I totally understand both views.

I would suggest - and you're free to disagree - that participating fully in God's Economy would start with honoring His request for the tithe.

Malachi 3:10 certainly seems to send that message.

What do you think?

If you don't believe in tithing - or don't tithe now for whatever reason, do you find it hard to ask God for financial blessings in your life and for your business?