Topic(s): Blessings, Faith

I don’t want to beat around the bush, so let me get to the point: What if God gave you every week ten times the amount that you give on Sundays? You know, we often hear preachers talk about “giving a tenth” (although the New Testament doesn’t specify that amount, cf. 1 Corinthians 16:2). But let’s just turn it around. What if, every week, God gave you ten times the amount that you give—would you rejoice? Would you be satisfied with your income?
Notice the figures below. First, find the amount that you are currently giving. Then check and see what your income would be.

Your Weekly Gift Your Weekly Income

$1	$10
$5	$50
$10	$100
$15	$150
$20	$200
$25	$250
$35	$350
$50	$500
$75	$750
$95	$950
$125	$1,250
$150	$1,500

Get the point? Should God bless you ten times what you are currently giving—could you live on it? Would you want to try? God doesn’t need our money. Giving is just like baptism and prayer. Baptism is a test of faith for the unsaved (Galatians 3:26-27) and prayer is a test of faith for the saved (James 1:5, 6). So it is with giving. It’s just a test. God says, “How much do you believe in me?” And every time we give we’re saying, “This much, God, this much.”

God wants us to put Him to the test: “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). Test God. Put Him on trial. Take Him to court. He said it, not me.

I dare you. God dares you. How much do you believe?

—Keith Parker