My temper hit the ceiling when I opened my credit card bill recently and saw that someone had been stealing from me.
The thief had charged nearly $10,000.
I was so angry I couldn’t see straight.
The next morning, when I finally simmered down enough to talk with God, I asked Him to show me what I could learn from this horrible experience.
God had plenty to say.
He reminded me that although His Word commands us to give only a tithe, everything that I have really belongs to Him — even my life.
The Bible says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalms 24:1).
If everything I possess already belongs to God, that means I am really just a steward of His resources.
So, my life, possessions, time, family — everything — belongs to Him.
That’s serious business.
What am I doing with it? Would I steal what belongs to the King of the World? Have I given Him free rein over all “my” possessions, “my” time, and “my” life?
Truth be told: if I’m using my resources for my own purposes, then not only am I stealing from God, I’m stealing from myself.
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God had a talk with the nation of Israel that explains this principle.
The Bible says: “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need” (Malachi 3:8-10).
Like Israel, when we steal from God, we shut the windows of heaven’s blessings for ourselves.
God is generous and wants to bless us with more than we can imagine.
When we begin to see Heaven’s windows open, we realize that everything we have is from God.
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Then, we gratefully give it all back to Him; as King David said, “All things come from you, and of your own have we given you” (1 Chronicles 29:14).
This really made me think about the relational aspect of my thievery toward God.
If the person who had stolen my credit card had been one of my children, it would have hurt me deeply, for I long to give them the desires of their heart.
When we begin to see Heaven’s windows open, we realize that everything we have is from God.
How much more does my good God wish to give good things to me?
When my heart is surrendered to Him, He “pours down blessings from heaven until there is no more need.”
We can never out-give our good, good Father.
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