BLESSINGS POURED OUT
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:10
There can be no doubt that God wants to bless His own. We are firmly convinced of this. The Bible also makes it clear that He places certain conditions on those who want to see His blessings. Here is a great example of this. God is presenting to His people an opportunity to trust Him and see what He can do for them. He says, “prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing.”
God desires to see His people blessed. The verses previous to our text tell us that God’s people were guilty of robbing God and were thus, “cursed with a curse” (Malachi 3:9). Instead of having God’s blessings on their lives, they were experiencing just the opposite; His hand of blessing was removed. Therefore, He challenged His people to correct their behavior and see if He would not demonstrate His power to meet their needs and send abundant blessings.
What conditions did God affix to this great promise? The first one is obedience. They had been guilty of withholding their tithes and offerings from the Lord. In this way, they were robbing God. God cannot bless disobedience. This is one of Satan’s favorite temptations. The devil wants to make us believe that we can get ahead, or even get by, living in disobedience. It may not surface immediately, but in time, it will become apparent that God’s blessings are being withheld. To experience His blessings, we are told to obey.
The other condition is faith. The phrase “prove me now herewith” is an invitation to trust God. God wants to prove Himself. He wants to show Himself strong in the lives of those who will trust Him and obey Him. These two attributes go together. When we obey Him, it is an exercise of our faith. God’s Word is true and it can be trusted.
As we trust and obey, He promises that He will bless accordingly. As a result, His Word testifies that He will “open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” God’s blessings will be poured out as we trust and obey Him.