Scroll down to see and play Audio.
Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder what you feel when you hear the word “TEST”? Does your mind run back to your school days, or perhaps a difficult situation which has tested your resolve, or maybe a medical procedure? Perhaps you think of challenging situations in life which test you emotionally or spiritually? But may I ask, have you ever considered that God might invite His people to test Him?
We’re in Malachi chapter 3 this week, and amazingly God makes this statement: “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 you will not have room enough for it.” (Mal. 3:10) Now what do you think about that? What could God possibly mean by such an invitation?
In this specific context, God’s people were stealing from God! As you read in chapter 1 of Malachi’s letter, the people were defiling God’s sacrifices by bringing blemished or even blind animals for Temple sacrifices, rather than their best. The people were refusing to bring their offerings to the Temple, withholding it for themselves, and yet they expected God to continue to bless them in their rebellion.
Now remember the progression of God’s message to the people which we’ve looked at thus far this week…
First, the powerful statement from God: “I the LORD do not change…so you are not destroyed” (Mal. 3:6)
Second, the invitation from God with a His promise: “Return to ME and I will return to you, says the LORD Almighty.” (Mal. 3:7)
And now third, this powerful declaration: “Test ME in this…” (Mal. 3:10)
Do you see significance in the progression of the statements, one truth building on another? Because God does not change, He is always reliable, always truthful, and His truth does not change, thus His character is trustworthy and we, rebellious, sinful people, are invited to come back to God from our drift, and we can be assured God will receive us and restore us in our repentance. And then for the skeptics among us, God issues the challenge… “Test Me in this.”
Tests have purpose don’t they? What is that purpose? Tests REVEAL what is normally unseen but is there! Radiology tests show medical experts what is inside our bodies. Scholastic tests reveal what is in our minds. Psychological tests reveal what is in our feelings, our psyche. Driving tests reveal our understanding of the function of automobiles and the rules of the road. Blood tests reveal a great deal about what is going on in our bodies. etc.
A few weeks ago I took you to Deuteronomy 8 where Moses made this summary statement: “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these 40 years to humble you and to TEST you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands.” (Deut. 8:2) You may recall I challenged us to consider it was not God who was interested to find out what was in their hearts… He already knew. God knows everything. God wanted the people to discover what HE knew was in their hearts, and the only way to show them was to test them through difficult, stressful, even frightening circumstances in the wilderness. In those desperate times, what was down deep inside the people, bubbled up, for all to see, in their attitudes, words and actions…and it was ugly!
Ok we get that…but what could it possibly mean that God invites us to TEST HIM? I wonder, when you turn the key in the ignition of your car is there is a slight question in your mind if it will start, even though it has started thousands of times before? Or when you flip on the light switch on the wall, do you sometimes wonder if the light will really turn on? What is that? We all have this natural tendency to doubt reliability, trustworthiness, dependability, of everything and everyone, don’t we? Why? Because we find in ourselves that WE have a tendency to be unreliable!
There is in all of us the potential for NOT being trustworthy, for NOT being dependable, for breaking promises, for NOT fulfilling our commitments and obligations. And because we see it in ourselves, we assume it’s in everyone and everything else too. We only hope appliances, and automobiles, and electricity, and doctors, and police, and teachers, and everyone else are more reliable and more trustworthy than we are! Now ponder that a moment!!
You see, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we even question God’s reliability, God’s trustworthiness, don’t we? And when things don’t work out in our lives as we had hoped or anticipated, we often blame God, and conclude that HE has failed us, and therefore we think God is unreliable! But one of the strong and consistent messages from God to every generation of people is “I the LORD do not change.” Every attribute, every characteristic of God is unchanging, reliable, trustworthy. God is not at all like us, even though we are made in His image. We, all of us, are the ones who have distorted His glorious image by becoming unreliable, undependable, inconsistent, selfish and sinful.
So in Malachi, God challenges His unreliable people to trust Him and return to Him, by living according to His instructions, His guidelines, His commands. God then promises a miracle… that He will pour out blessing so much they won’t be able to manage it all!
For many people, then and now, the matter of ‘tithe and offerings’ for God sticks in their throat like a fish-bone. God had instructed His people that one tenth of everything which came into their possession belonged to God. Therefore from their flocks, herds, gardens, fields, the work of their hands and even the cash paid to them for their work, one tenth was to be brought to the Temple and turned over to be used to care for the Temple, the priests and the ministry of the Temple. (Lev. 27:30,32)
WHY you might ask? God wanted His people to understand that HE was the source of ALL they needed for life. GOD supplied His people out of His love. Too easily the people would assume their intelligence, their hard word, their head for business had produced their wealth, and they would turn away from God in self-reliance. Moses explained it well in Deut. 8:17 “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God for it is HE who gives you the ability to produce wealth and so confirms His covenant with you…” God’s many instructions about God’s people bringing their tithes and offerings to God are intended to help us remember and celebrate God’s bountiful blessings of His people. It’s also to provide for the advancement of God’s work locally and even globally.
So God challenged the people through Malachi, to bring their tithes and offerings, without fear that they would not have sufficient food or resources for themselves. God challenged the people to TEST GOD and see if He would be true to His promises to care for and provide for His people, if they would be faithful to Him!
Now let me add a new perspective. Jesus expanded this concept challenging His followers to view EVERYTHING we have as ALL belonging to God, not simply the tithe of 1 tenth. If we will view all our resources as God’s, that He entrusts to us for HIS glory and the accomplishment of HIS purposes on earth, that brings an entirely new view of things, doesn’t it? That perspective draws us into a much deeper, daily relationship of trust in God’s provision for our daily needs AND our future needs that He can see but we can’t! This is true living by faith in the full practical sense. Have you learned that my friends? That is Jesus’ message in Matthew 6. I urge you to carefully read that entire chapter today friends. Can you receive God’s challenge “Test Me in this…”?
How would your life change if you viewed EVERYTHING you ‘own’ as belonging to God? All that you consider to be YOURS… house, automobile, clothing, food, appliances, sports equipment, all your technology devices, even your bank account and investments… it all belongs to God, NONE of it is yours or “mine”. It has all been loaned, entrusted to you by God. He is the owner, you and I are the mangers of HIS resources. Our obligation is therefore to live in such close relationship with Jesus that we can hear Him guide us every day in how to use His resources entrusted to us and how to distribute them or spend them! I want to leave you wrestling with this concept today my friends. I invite you to talk with God about it as you read Matthew 6 and before you close your Bible, read 1 Timothy 6:6-10, and listen for what Jesus says to you today. This could be life changing for you!!
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Click to read today’s chapter: Malachi 3:6-10; Matthew 6; 1 Timothy 6:6-10. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.