Malachi 3:10

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Malachi 3:10


It’s not often that the Lord asks us to prove him, so I’m thinking that it might be kind of important. :)  It's like a lot of other things in the gospel... if you can just have enough faith and desire to try it sincerely... then the Lord will *pour* out the blessings.  Notice that he does not say "spritz," "drip," or "sprinkle." ... these are some serious rain clouds.  And if we do it, then God will bless us... think about being out in the rain... and it starts to sprinkle... it is kind of fun to walk in... then it starts to pour.  you are drenched.  your jacket is drenched.  your feet are squishing as you walk... streams are running down your head, off your nose, dripping from your arms.  Except... in this case, it isn't water.  It is blessings.  You are so blessed that you can't absorb that many blessings, and they start being absorbed by other people... like when you finally get home and you give your friend a hug and drench them too. :)
This is also one of the best things to try in the beginning... because it is so easy to measure whether we are doing it or not.  Ten percent of our increase.  With love and faith and kindness, etc... it is a lot harder to measure.  And, the Lord asks us to prove him... this is an okay thing to experiment with.... unlike, say... "thou shalt not kill."  Some commandments you just don't want to test the boundaries of.  But with tithing, he *wants* us to test him, and see what happens.  So... if we aren't already, let's give it a sincere try... and prove God.  He will not let us down.