Men are ever desirous to possess material things as they labor to acquire the needs of life and enjoy
economic well-being. To add wealth to wealth is a laudable aim provided the attainment is accomplished though
righteous means. God has promised abundant material blessings to His people when they observe all His
commandments, for He well knows that poverty and destitution are contributive to either contentment nor peace.
There, however, a major danger in the amassing of wealth, against which it is essential to be on guard at
all times. It is the tendency to forget God and attribute the accumulation of possessions to ones own ability rather
than to thank God for having become the recipient of His blessings. Moses warned of the danger point that may
be reached: "And thou shall say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He that giveth power to get wealth" (Deut. 8:17-18).
Perhaps one of the most difficult requirements for the wealthy to meet is the keeping of all His
commandments. When instructing Israel to remember God. in the time of prosperity, Moses also said: “And it
shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He sware unto thy fathers, to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full
of all good things, which thou filledst
not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou
shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land
of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His
name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the LORD thy
God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee
from off the face of the earth. Ye shall not tempt the LORD
your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. Ye shall diligently keep the Commandments of the LORD
your God, and His testimonies, and His statutes, which He hath commanded thee. And thou shalt do that which
is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess
the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers” (Deut 6:10-18)
The mere possession of wealth often blind men to the need to rely upon God, causing them to forget their
obligations to Him. Malachi the Prophet placed special emphasis upon the obligation to keep the commandment
to tithe one's increase and he asked the question, "Will a man rob God?" Then addressing the people, the Lord,
through the prophet, utters the denunciation, "Yet ye have robbed me." The people ask, "Wherein have we robbed
Thee?" The Lord responds through the prophet, "In tithes and offerings" (Mal 3:8).
The poor man pays his tithe, ten cents out of the dollar; one dollar out of ten; ten dollars out of one
hundred. However, ten thousand dollars out of one hundred thousand dollars of the rich man's increase often
seems too large a sum, so he gives a hundred or a thousand dollars, to pay his debt to God, thinking thus to ease
his conscience. But one thousand dollars is only one per cent of one hundred thousand dollars and God is robbed
of that which-is due Him.
It is difficult for the rich to please God, for the love of money looms before them as they contempt the
amount involved in the tithe required. They forget to be thankful to God for the increase wealth-which enables
them to pay such a tithe.
On the other hand, the poor often defend their failure to tithe with the excuse that they cannot afford to
do so. But it is impossible for either the poor or the rich to escape the necessity to obey the law of the tithe. The
Lord is not primarily interested in the amount of the tithe, whether small or large, but He is definitely concerned
that. all, both poor and rich, are faithful to their obligations. The poor man's assumption that he cannot afford it
and the rich man's position that it involves too large a sum are excuses unacceptable to God. Actually, neither the
poor nor the rich can afford not to tithe.
Malachi declares that, because men persist in robbing God, "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have
robbed Me, even this whole nation" (Mal. 3:9).
God issues a challenge to all to bring their tithes into His storehouse and prove Him to see, "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" (Mal. 3:
10).
Solomon pointed out that, when we honor the Lord with our substance and with the firstfruits of all our
Increase, "so shall thy barns be filled with plenty" (Prov. 3: 10). God will never remain in debt to any man and
he who will perform all that is required of him will be fully satisfied. (WORDS OF WISDOM 1997)