Robbing God

Today's Reading (last book of the Old Testament!): Malachi

Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, "How are we robbing you?" In your tithes and offerings! Malachi 3: 8 NRSV

I must confess that my husband and I have gotten behind on our tithe this summer. Of course, we have many excuses: taxes, bills, vacation, loss of income...you name it, we can use it to rationalize why we have given less.

The truth is that we have been robbing God. Yep. Because we have not sat down every time we do bills and said first, "What do we owe God?" before a single "necessary" bill was due, we have robbed God. It doesn't make us happy and it really makes me pretty uncomfortable during the offering in church. But most of all it puts me in a very uncomfortable place in my relationship with the Almighty.

I can truthfully say that my prayer life is not currently what I would like it to be. Sometimes I feel like I am missing out on something when I try to follow God's lead. Often I end up doing what I want or what seems to be the emergency of the week. It isn't though I feel distant from God. I just feel like we aren't on the same wave-length. And I know part of that is my own with-holding of giving to God.

I must bring my full tithe into God's house, knowing that I will be blessed to overflowing.

God, forgive us for robbing you. You want to bless us to overflowing but we are so stingy toward you. We are sorry. Amen.

Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims