Monday February 19
As we saw in Malachi 3:10, God promised a great blessing to those faithful in their tithe. Yet God’s blessing is not one-dimensional. To emphasize, for instance, the accumulation of material assets as a blessing, at the expense of everything else, is a very narrow view of what God’s blessing really is.
Blessing in Malachi is spiritual as well as temporal. The meaning of God’s blessing is evidenced by salvation, happiness, a peace of mind, and God always doing what is best for us. Also, when we are blessed by God, we are obligated to share those blessings with the less fortunate. We have been blessed in order to bless others. Indeed, through us God is able to extend His blessings elsewhere.
Read 1 Peter 3:8, 9. What is Peter saying to us about the relationship between being blessed and being a blessing to others?
From tithing a double blessing comes. We are blessed, and we are a blessing to others. We can give out of what we have been given. God’s blessings toward us reach inwardly and to others outwardly. “Give, and it will be given to you. . . . For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38, NIV).
Read Acts 20:35. How does this apply to tithing as well?
The greatest blessing tithing teaches us is to trust God (Jeremiah 17:7). “The special system of tithing was founded upon a principle which is as enduring as the law of God. This system of tithing was a blessing to the Jews, else God would not have given it them. So also will it be a blessing to those who carry it out to the end of time. Our heavenly Father did not originate the plan of systematic benevolence to enrich Himself, but to be a great blessing to man. He saw that this system of beneficence was just what man needed.” - Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, pp. 404, 405.
Think about times you have been blessed by the Lord through the ministry of someone else to you. How then can you go and do likewise for others?
