In Malachi’s Old Testament prophecy, God says “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD… “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”  This very Christian message, “give and you will receive,” is sometimes misinterpreted.  There is the thought that tithes and offerings in the form of money can lead to healing and redemption.  While giving in this form is a wonderful gift that surely blesses the giver, it’s not the offering of money that leads to the removal of sin and disease from our lives.  If our money offering isn’t what God requires of us, what is? What does God ask of us?

The answer is gratitude.  What do we have to be grateful for when it seems like we are lacking what we need?  The practice of gratitude is one in which we turn our thought away from the evidence of the material senses, and focus on what is true in God’s spiritual creation.  The Bible tells us that God gives us everything we need: infinite supply, healing, redemption.  When we cultivate a sense of gratitude in our thought for this spiritual truth, we start to see this reality manifested in our lives.  That’s why in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, she defines the word “tithe” spiritually as gratitude.  In this light, the scripture from Malachi takes on a new meaning: give your gratitude to God, and he will pour out a blessing that overflows!

Join us this Wednesday, September 16th for our 7:30pm testimony meeting.  We’ll hear readings from the Bible and the Christian Science Textbook on the subject “Prayer and Gratitude,” and hear testimonies of healing.