Malachi 3 NIV
6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
7 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.
9 You are under a curse —the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit, ” says the LORD Almighty.
12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.
I interpret Malachi 3:11 to mean that God is interested in protecting more than just my crops and fruit (I don’t have either). I interpret the verse to mean that if I honor God with my tithe He will protect, among other things, my cars from rusting and wearing out. I know they won’t last forever but they each are over ten years old, each have over 120,000 miles, and each have very little, if any, rust. The 2002 Pontiac Montana needs a perennial repair of the heater core thermostat (or something like that, I’m not a mechanic) and may need an engine gasket replacement in 40,000 miles. The 2003 Toyota Camry has only had the tires, windshield wipers and battery replaced; (but soon needs something like a timing cover gasket replaced).
What I think is most significant is that God has protected ME! God has kept me safe and free from accidents that were my fault. I have been in two accidents that were not my fault since I gave my self to Jesus, and He saved me from much harm in both.
You will only find out how God will bless you if you accept His challenge and put Him to the test by tithing. Try it and see!
I AM for You! 