“Try me and see what happens…”
Depending on the source, that phrase is probably not an invitation that you would want to take the person up on. To follow up on that request is most likely to be on the receiving end of insult or injury. Maybe both.
And yet, this is the spirit behind God’s invitation to his people in Malachi 3:10: “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.”
Evidently, the people of God were breaking the old covenant laws concerning tithing by withholding from God. They were keeping a little extra for themselves–you know, just in case something came up. Just in case God forgot to provide for them as he promised he would.
And what was God’s response to their stinginess? “Try me and see what happens. Don’t withhold anything from me. Bring it all and see if I won’t bless you until you have everything you need.”
God’s people today don’t live under the same old covenantal law as they did in Malachi 3, but the heart of God’s invitation to his people is still the same. Try him. Live in open-handed generosity and see if he won’t meet your every need. After all, “he who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32)
Try him and see what happens.
VC Devotionals 