Are you ever called upon to tell people what they don’t want to hear? This is an example. Mister Jones lived well. He owned many properties and learned a huge income. He liked to brag about how he was leaving all his money to the church. Lord knows, the church surely needed it. The roof leaked and the vestibule was shabby.
In spite of all his promises and bragging, no one cared to spend time in his company. He invited the minister to tea and asked, “I’m leaving all my money to the church! Why doesn’t anyone give me the respect I deserve? After all, I am going to save them all from destruction”!!
After much silence and great prayer, the minister said, “Let me tell you about the pig and the cow. Nobody liked the pig, but they loved the cow. The pig was tormented by the situation.
He turned to the cow and said, “I guess everyone likes you for your sweet nature and your beautiful eyes. You donate milk and cream every day. But I do the very same thing. I give them bacon, ham and pork chitlings. My bristles make great brushes and for heaven’s sake, they even pickle my feet! But no one likes me! What am I doing wrong?
The cow said wisely, “Perhaps its because I give while I am still alive.
It is my sorrow to tell you that thousands go to church every day with the sheer expectation of getting something for free. They never donate a penny to the upkeep of the building, the pastor’s salary or the Sunday School fund. But they expect everyone in the building to care for them.
Can it be that you know so little of God?
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 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 there will not be room enough to store it. (Malachi 3:8-10)
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