A Bag With Holes

 A Bag With Holes

October 16, 2026

Malachi 3:8-12 (NKJV) 8

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, [Even] this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you [such] blessing That [there will] not [be room] enough [to receive it.] 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts; 12 “And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the LORD of hosts.

Haggai 1:5-6 (NKJV) 

5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways! 6 “You havesown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages [to put] into a bag with holes.”

Luke 12:31-34 (NKJV) 

31 “But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 “Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

You hear a lot of complaints these days about the cost of living. Gas is too high; housing is unaffordable; healthcare costs are outrageous… People like to lay the blame on the government, on their parents generation, on anything but themselves. But what does the Bible say? What is the answer to living in prosperity, even in a corrupt and evil generation?

The Bible is pretty clear. Malachi says that your finances are cursed because you rob God of tithes and offerings. Haggai says that you put your money into bags with holes in them. Even when you work hard, you never have enough. And most importantly, Jesus says we should seek first the kingdom and He will provide us with money bags that do not grow old and we will have treasure in heaven.  Kingdom economics is upside down from worldly finances. The Lord says that in order to receive, you must first give. In order to live in prosperity, you must put the kingdom of God first and trust in the Lord to provide all that you need.

My testimony is that this is true. Some young people complain about the Baby Boom generation having too much, but they don’t realize that we lived through hard times also. We bought houses when the interest rate was 9 to 11% and a 20% down payment was required. We saw gas prices go from 25 cents to the outrageous sum of 50 cents and then to unimaginable heights of $1 then $2! And that was if you could find gas. We lived through the Carter gas shortages where you could only buy gas every other day, and you had to get to the station early before they ran out! We lived through the Vietnam war; at least some of us did. 50,000 of our closest friends did not live through that conflict and we felt the loss personally. But those of us who were wise found the Lord in the Jesus Movement and traded the craziness of the world for being Jesus Freaks! And what did we learn through all of this? That when you put Jesus first and give Him your time, your talents and your treasure first, He will provide all you need, even in troubled times.

I’ve recently seen some self styled theologians expound online that there is no need to tithe. That is part of the Old Testament law and doesn’t apply today. They further claim that there is no devourer. Well I’m here to tell you that Jesus doesn’t have a legal requirement for 10%; He requires 100%! The tithe is only a symbol that it all belongs to Him. And as for the devourer, just look around you. How else do you explain the complaints about how hard it is to live when we live in the most prosperous nation in the history of the world. I’ve traveled to other parts of the world and have seen what true poverty is. There are multitudes that live without power, without running water, without TV and internet, without any signs of material prosperity whatsoever. But even there, those that are Christians live a happy and blessed life because they trust in the Lord and He provides all that they need. Not all that they want or all that they could have, but all that they need. My father always told me that true prosperity was having all that you need, with a little left over to help someone else. By that measure I am prosperous and blessed.

I’m sorry if I ranted and raved a bit this morning, but I’m of an age where it just takes too much energy to hold back. I heard one internet sage say it like this. “Never start a fight with an old man. He is too tired to fight you so will just shoot you!” I’m not going to shoot you, at least not with bullets of lead, but I am inclined to tell you the truth. And that truth is that if you give to the Lord first, He will provides all that you need. I’ll close with my favorite Psalm on the subject which is also my personal testimony:

Psalm 37:23-26 (NKJV) 

23 The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds [him with] His hand. 25 I have been young, and [now] am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. 26 [He is] ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants [are] blessed.

Amen and Shalom.