Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Matthew 4:7

You’re probably familiar with the above text. Responding to the temptation of the Devil in the wilderness, Jesus quotes the Law of Moses, refuting the temptation to try to coerce a miracle from the Father (quoted passage is Deuteronomy 6:16).

But God does invite another kind of miraculous test, one that displays his power and mercy even more than an arbitrary and selfish test we might invent.

“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 there will not be room enough to store it.”

Malachi 3:10

In Malachi, the prophet speaks for the Lord and tells the people if they will use their Earthly resources to serve God, the blessings that the Lord will pour out will be superabundant!

We don’t have a temple to tithe to in the Christian faith, but what we do have is multiple instructions and commandments to do every good thing we find to do, and glorify God through our service. In some ways, our mission is much more difficult than bringing in a ten percent portion for the Lord; the follower of Jesus is to dedicate everything, even the body God gave us, to him. Imagine the blessings we can expect if we are obedient in this!

Ethan Kirl