Malachi 3:7 says, Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? God said that His chosen people who had entered into a covenant relationship with Him had turned away from the covenant and His ordinances for years. God said that if they would return to Him that He would return to them, but they asked why they should return. God will always stand ready to retore His people to Himself if they stray away and will even call them to return. It is then up to them to acknowledge that they have turned away from Him and need to return. Verse eight adds, Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. God asked a question. Would a man rob God? It seems that this would be a ridiculous question to ask of those who were supposed to be in a covenant relationship with God, but He answered by saying that they had robbed Him. They then asked when they had done this. We need to ask ourselves the same question today and look to God for the answer. We are not the ones qualified to answer the question. Only God is. Verse nine declares, Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. God said the whole nation was cursed because the whole nation robbed Him. This was not just an isolated incident with a few of His chosen people. God said the whole nation was robbing Him. We need to make sure that even if everyone else in the nation is guilty of robbing God that we as an individual are not. Everybody is doing is not an excuse or justification for not obeying God. Verse ten adds, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. God called on them to bring all the tithes into the storehouse, not because He needed anything, but to show the obedience of His people. We really have nothing to offer God that is not already His except our obedience to Him through our relationship with Jesus Christ. We must put God and His commandments first if we are to successfully spread the gospel. God said that if they brought the tithes that He would pour out blessings that they would not have room to receive. If we have needs today as followers of Christ, the way to have those needs met is to put God and His work first. Verse eleven continues, And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. God said that when they faithfully brought His tithes into the storehouse that He would protect and provide for them. God has not changed this promise. Verse twelve concludes, And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. God said that if they followed His command and put Him first that all nations would call them blessed. If we want the rest of the world to call us a blessed nation, it must start by our being obedient to Him and putting the things of God first.
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