7 Ever since the time of your ancestors 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 mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—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 there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. Malachi 3:7-12

Today’s lesson is simple. If you stray from God, He curses you. If you return to God, He blesses you. If we stray from God, pests devour our crops, and our vines drop fruit before they’re ripe. If we return to God, He opens the floodgates of heaven and pours out so much blessing that “there will not be room enough to store it.” So which is it? Pests and unripe fruit or opening the floodgates of heaven?

Before you answer this question, it might be a good idea to take a look at your life at this very moment. Do you feel blessed? Are things going well? Or do you feel cursed? Do you feel like things could be better? An important step is to examine your present address: are you living amid God’s infinite blessings or are you drowning in His curses? Take a look at your life and make the right choice to return to God. Becoming closer to God means returning to His decrees and keeping them.

When we stray from God, pests devour our crops. “I will prevent pests from devouring your crops…” Pests are things that eat away at our success, happiness, and general well-being. A pest can be a person, object, or event. It’s the one thing in life holding us back from happiness. “If I could only get rid of that pest, I’d be happy.” What are the pests eating away at your happiness and success? They’re a sign you’ve strayed from God! We use pests as an excuse for our failures. “I didn’t succeed because that person was holding me back!” or “My business failed because I was in the wrong location!” They’re just excuses. God created all those so-called “pests” because He curses you for straying from Him!

Another sign we’ve strayed from God comes from fruit dropping before they’re ripe. “The vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before its ripe.” Are you on the verge of success but never quite get there? Have you spent a lot of time and effort on something but the results don’t match your effort? The full potential of something is never realized… You fall short of a goal… The business you opened never quite panned out… You spend years studying for an exam but never passed… If you are on the verge of success but things seem to fail or never pan out, God is cursing you for straying from Him!

We live in a cold and heartless world. We live in a world full of “pests.” We live in a world of tempered expectations and results. Imagine how wonderful it would be if all the pests looking to chip away at our happiness disappeared from the world! Imagine how great it would be if the results of all things we set out to achieve match our expectations and effort. If you want to enjoy success in this world and the next, move closer to God. Follow His decrees. Obey His commands. If you want to live in a world full of pests and unfulfilled dreams, stray from God. In the end, it’s all very simple: God blesses those who grow close to Him and curses those who stray.

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1986-8-24-ful-mixdown

Click for English reading https://youtu.be/iGQFzh0BRgk