A Call to Dare God
By: Seth Gogo Egoeh

Another new year is here with us and I believe many resolutions are made by many people. Resolutions vary from person to person, but one thing is certain; everyone wants to see improvement in their life – be it spiritual, financial, job related, etc. It is this thrill of beginning anew that gets people going.

I believe many people, if not all, would like to see improvement in their financial life. This is what I want to talk about today. Let’s look at the following Scripture from the Book of Malachi.

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.  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.   And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.” ~ Malachi 3:8-11

You see, the universe is governed by laws. With the law of gravity, we know that when an apple is thrown into the air, it will come down. Through scientific developments and technology, we learn that the laws of aerodynamics compensate against this law of gravity. As such, we can put aeroplanes to flight and they’ll not fall down.

You don’t challenge these laws. I’m not a man of Science, but it will be foolish of me to try to jump from the top of a 10-storey building by flapping my arms and expect to fly, because by the law of gravity, I will fall down and hurt myself – it will be suicidal.  We respect these laws of nature, whether we understand them or not

It is in the same way that we have divine laws concerning giving and receiving. It is interesting to know that from Genesis to Revelation, it is only in Malachi 3:10 that God actually tells us to dare Him. Search Scripture and you’ll find out that this is the only place that God really challenges us to challenge Him in giving.

Now, I know some people don’t believe in paying tithes and offering, simply because they said that Jesus didn’t speak about it in the New Testament. The problem is that Jesus didn’t need to speak about paying tithes because by the time that He came, the people already knew the Law. This is reasonable; because no teacher teaches something that his/her new students already knew and understood.

In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

Notice here that Jesus said “these ought ye to have done, not to leave the other undone”, which basically means that Jesus isn’t condemning paying of tithes, rather, He wishes that in addition to doing this, we must put greater emphasis on mightier things such as judgment, mercy and faith. And don’t forget, payment of tithe didn’t start in the time of the Old Testament. Abraham paid his first tithe even before the Old Testament began (Genesis 14:20)!

The divine law in giving is expressed in the New Testament, which reads, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” ~ Luke 6:38

In other words, the more you give the more you receive. Apostle Paul endorses this law when he said to the Corinthians, “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” ~ 2 Cor. 9:6

The last point I want to make is this; when you give tithes and offering your job is done. Many people worry too much about what the Servant of God in charge of the local church is going to do with the tithe and offering. In my personal opinion, this is none of our business. Whatever the Servant of God does with the tithe and offerings is between him and the LORD! If you want to look at the lifestyles of Servant of God these days, you’ll probably not pay tithes and offering, but in the long run, you’re just ruining your financial blessings. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should not hold your leaders accountable!

There are two types of blessings. The first one is when the Lord blesses us just because He chooses to. The second is purely based upon our obedience to Him – conditional blessings; this is where the divine laws that the Lord has given the universe come into play.

Finally, I’d like to point out that paying tithes and offerings has nothing to do with our Salvation. We no longer have a legalistic kind of relationship with the LORD. Our salvation is purely based on Grace through our faith in Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, if we want to be blessed financially whiles we’re on planet Earth, then we need to play by the rules. If you want to be blessed this year and in the coming years, then don’t forget to pay your tithes and offerings regularly to your local church. In a way, you’re trusting God with your finances if you do this. And don’t forget everything belongs to the LORD (Psalm 24:1-2)

God is calling you to dare Him! Those are the words of the Unfathomable and Unchangeable God! What are you going to do?