“Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me” (Malachi 3:8). That might well seem like a strong accusation: and it would have also seemed that way for the people of Jerusalem after they had returned from the Exile. They responded, “How are we robbing you?” God replied, “In your tithes and offerings! You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me – the whole nation of you!” (3:8-9).

In our present era we tend to think of church offerings as a charitable donation that we might or might not make: and we think about it in terms of what we have left over after we have paid all the other bills that have piled up. It’s worth noting, though, that even when money is tight for us, we are still far better off than the people of Jerusalem were, in the years after they had made the journey home from Babylon. Like them, we don’t think of ourselves as “robbing God” if we fail to pay a tithe. And yet the text uses strong language: we are cursed with a curse, it says, if we are failing to tithe.

Fortunately, we do not need to remain stuck with this curse: God challenges us to discover a great blessing instead. “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing” (3:10).

It’s an interesting offer. Suppose we took God up on it? If we do, “all nations will count you happy, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts” (3:12). What do you think? Do you suppose we can trust God to fulfill this promise?

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Grant us the freedom, O God, to love you freely and lavishly with our substance: to bring the full tithe into your house. It is our desire to set our confidence in you: no longer to rob you, but rather to offer you extravagant love, from the fullness of our hearts, forever.