Returning to the Lord

“Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?' (8) Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?” “In tithes and offerings. Malachi 3:7-8

About two years after I repented for my sins and received Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I went through a rough time in my walk with the Lord. It was during this time that I began to back slide in my faith. As a discouraged Christian, one of the first things I stopped doing was going to church. Because I was no longer going to church, I stopped paying my tithes. I would remain discouraged in my faith and disobedient to my Lord for about a year.

Through sovereign circumstances and conversations with friends who remained Christ followers, I once again began to seek the Lord. Desperate to get back in good standing with my God, I submitted my heart and my will to Christ’s Lordship.

I remember calling my pastor and asking him to meet me at work. We talked about my struggles over the last year, and what it was going to take for me to stand strong in my faith. I was so disappointed in myself that I had betrayed the God who died for me on the cross. I made a commitment to never waste another year of my life by not serving Jesus.

After our conversation, I repented for my sins and prayed with my pastor. As he was leaving my office to return home, I asked him to follow me to my car. While walking to my car, I began to count in my head how much I owed God in tithes over the last year. At the car, I grabbed a pen out of my glove box and wrote down my gross monthly salary on a piece of paper. Then, I multiplied my monthly gross salary by twelve, and wrote a check to my church.

Why did I write this check? It was very important to me to prove my repentance was genuine. I could think of no better way to do this than write a tithe check. As I wrote the check, I remembered the words of Jesus, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Tithing puts God first in our life with our money.

After handing the check to my pastor, for the first time in a year, I felt the joy of the Lord enter my heart. It was such a wonderful feeling to know that I was no longer robbing God with my tithes and offerings. There was such peace in my soul because I knew the curse of disobedience and robbing God was no longer going to manifest in my life. Since that moment, I have been living a life of obedience to my Lord, and experiencing His blessing and favor on my life.