The verse that many people use regarding tithing is Malachi 3:10:   “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 you will not have room enough for it.”  (NIV)

Any good Christian or Jew knows about the concept of tithing: giving one-tenth of your income for good.  Most people give to their church or temple, and let that organization disburse the goods as is needed.

Many people are not comfortable with the idea of tithing.  “Ten percent!” they say, “I can’t afford to tithe.  I’m barely making it as it is.”  It is especially hard in this economy, with so many of our lives turned upside down.  No way can we afford to tithe.

I get that.  I’ve used the very same argument.  There is just not enough money to go around.  I mentally presented that argument every time a mention of tithing came to my consciousness.  There is just not enough money.

Year in, year out, there is just not enough money.  Never enough.

It took me a number of years until it occurred to me that maybe there was not enough money because I did not tithe.  Finally the day came when I was listening to a book on CD wherein the author was talking about how tithing turned his life around.  That same evening my husband was watching a television show about tithing.  I don’t need a house to fall on my head.  (Not quite.)  The next morning during my prayer time I made the decision to tithe my paycheck.  I must tell you, I made this decision with some trepidation.  I consider a promise to God a very serious undertaking—I don’t make a promise that I don’t intend to keep, and the idea of giving up 10 percent of my check was rather daunting.
When I got my next paycheck I cashed it and set aside 10 percent of it.  When I had my first $100 I wrote a check to Habitat for Humanity.  As I licked the envelope, I smiled.  It felt good.  From anxious to smiling in the time it takes to write a check.
I have given money in hundred-dollar increments to Habitat, to The Salvation Army, to The Red Cross, to my church, to food banks, to Cub Scouts, for water wells in Africa.
I believe that my job is a gift from God.  And as I’ve written checks, I’ve come to see that it is God’s money I am passing on.  Doing a good thing with God’s resources makes me feel like a useful worker in the Kingdom.

A number of weeks passed when it came to my attention that my self-employed husband had been rather busy lately.  He had sold an unusually high percentage of jobs.  And he was working through a season that was usually a down time.  Through what is becoming a very difficult financial time in this country we are doing ok.

During these hard financial times, I am passing along more than I ever have in my entire life.  I think about that.  What if each one of us, no matter what our state, passed on 10 percent of what we had?  Ten percent of our income—no matter how small that may be.  Or ten percent of our time.  Or ten percent of our talent.  Or ten percent of our “stuff”.  If each one of us passed on 10 percent of what was given to us, our states, our country, our world would not be in the terrible shape it is in.

In the second part of Malachi 3:10, God says, “Test me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”  Get this, Children—almighty God is laying down a challenge to us—“Just see  if you can outbless Me!”

I encourage you to put your Creator to the test.  Share what has been given to you, and watch what happens!