What Does it Mean to Rob God?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

It is no secret to any Christian that all resources belong to God. It really doesn’t matter if those resources entail finances, time, talent, labor, or anything else. God is the owner of all of them (Psalm 24:1). As Christians, we know this truth intellectually well, because we hear it in sermons, sunday schools, and other teaching venues frequently.  But we still sometimes forget it because we haven’t taken the time to internalize it, experience it, or really notice it. Then, too, there is the risk of blessings.  We forget the truth of God’s ownership of all resources because we’ve become used to our blessings, and then take them for granted, without ever asking about why they were granted.

You may think that your paycheck comes from your company, and that they give it to you because of your labor, or your talent.  But this isn’t completely so.  You only have your talent because God gave it to you, and the company only has a cash flow to fulfill your paycheck because God gave its leadership the talent and resources that attract and allow that flow.  God could terminate your talent, the cash flow, or the company’s leadership at any time. You may think that you’re talent at playing ball, or playing the piano, or writing a book, or singing a song, or persuading others with smooth speech is something that belongs solely to you, and that came to you as a result of practice, self-discipline, and well leveraged opportunities. But the truth is that God gave those talents to you.  It is true that you may have developed them with practice, self-discipline, and well leveraged opportunities, but then God also gave you the breath, energy and life necessary for the practice and self-discipline.  Many times, he also gave you those opportunities to leverage.

God gave you these things, and he expects you to steward them a certain way.  There is an expectation that a portion of what you are given, be given back to God so that it can be used for his purposes.  When you do not do this, God considers it robbery (Malachi 3:8-12).  He punishes this robbery with an erosion of his blessings.  He also rewards obedience to giving with an increase in blessings. When that happens, your house and church community become a delight and an example to others.

So with that in mind, ask yourself if you are giving well from those things that God has given you. Perhaps you are giving plenty of money -- maybe even more than your share. There are many who do, and that is awesome and commendable! Are you giving of your talents? Are you giving of your time? Are you giving of your labor?  God expects and rewards giving out of all of these blessings.