A lot of people we know from church is familiar with the bible verse, “put me to the test, says the Lord.” God said it, and we’re putting Him to the test through this practical application. Not that He isn’t faithful, oh He has ALWAYS been. Here’s why we’re doing this:
1. God said so.
The Promise. God said we can test Him in this. He is challenging us to challenge Him to throw “open the windows of heaven for us and pour out a blessing until there is no more need.” I look at our house which we’ve occupied for less than 9 months and see needs, plus, preparing for our future kids means that we will never run out of needs. In other words, God will continue to pour down blessings. We are also holding Him to His promise that He will protect the “fruits of our soil” and He will make fruitful our “vine in the field.” God wants us to look back one day and tell us, “I told you so (that I got you covered).”
The Premise. Let’s set this straight now. There is a premise to the test: giving the full tithe to God. If you’re not willing to give the full tithe, sorry but no premise, no promise.
“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.
I will rebuke the devourer for you,
so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil,
and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear,
says the Lord of hosts.”
– God, Malachi 3:10-11
2. We are building our faith.
Like physical muscles, we need to exercise to beef up our spiritual muscles. Like doing crunches for stronger abs, we’re doing this to target our muscles of faith. As much as we don’t want to be sick before we begin to live healthy, we don’t want to exercise our faith only when forced by circumstance.
3. We want our future kids to be boundless by facts and dream by truth.
We will be co-parents with God. Yes we will work hard to provide for our kids, but we know we can’t always provide everything that they need or want. And even when we have the financial capacity to give them everything, we will have to practice the discipline of not being God for them—because we can never be. We want them to acknowledge facts (e.g. how much money they have, how much money we have, what we need to first save up for), but to dream in light of God’s promises. We want them to give God what is due His (i.e. tithe), and we want them to see how God’s promise of blessing unfold in their lives. Like enrolling them in ballet as young as we can enroll them for good dance foundations, we want to start the faith muscle stretching as young as they can. Like having a teacher dance with them, having parents who practice what we want them to practice will make them get the moves right.
The Test
Our home is open to a lot of people. I actually don’t know any friend who has been to our house and has not seen every single room, including ours. But for this exercise we have assigned a secret space that’s only for the two of us: our “faith wall.”
For the next few weeks, anything we want to buy outside of our monthly budget, no matter how cheap or expensive, and regardless if it’s a need or want, will have to be posted here. We’re not allowed to give these to each other, and we’re not going to tell anybody what’s on this wall.
For example (without giving too much detail!), if something in the kitchen gets broken and we need to replace it, we will ask God for it or for extra money for it. We will not immediately jump into the bank or swipe a card. Like stretching and conditioning for a dance competition, we want to endure the training and be amazed by God’s faithfulness.
I am sharing this for accountability, and so that you, too, can dance with us. If you want this, again, it’s premise before promise. 😉
P.S.
Obviously easier typed than done. We pray that the fruit of the Spirit, self control, will be plenty.
