Edward’s QT

Moses tells the Israelites to tithe their produce and take it to the Lord every year as a way of learning to revere God. If the place of worship was too far away, they could change their tithe into money and then eat and rejoice in the Lord at the place of worship. Every three years, the tithes were to be gathered to support the Levites and allow the foreigners, fatherless and widows to eat and rejoice with them.

How am I tithing and with what attitude?

For some reason, tithing is one of the thorniest issues in a worshipping life. I didn’t understand why it was a problem when I became a Christian and I still don’t understand why fellow believers don’t tithe. I suspect that it’s God’s grace that I tithed from the beginning of my Christian life. I therefore take no credit for it and judge no one who struggles to give ten percent of their income to the Lord through their church.

When I lived in Canada I experienced God’s call to faith, had my children baptized, took my family to Sunday worship, and began tithing. Every year when the minister brought up the question, there was always a debate. Tithe my gross income or my after tax income? I argued that we should be on the gross income because to tithe on our after tax income meant we were giving to the government first, not God. Then there were the people who wanted to deduct their charitable givings from the church tithe.

Since many of the charities they gave money to were not Christian or connected to the church, I argued against including them as part of their tithe. Some people said they didn’t trust the church with their money. I argued that God was the true recipient of the tithe for his purposes, such as supporting the Levites and the fatherless and the widows in today’s passage. To tithe is to celebrate fellowship with God.

Tithing my money is easy and simple. Tithing my time is a different matter which I have struggled with from the beginning. How do I tithe the sixteen or seventeen hours I’m awake every day?

 Worship, mokjang, and church activities easily cover ten percent of my Sunday, Saturday, Wednesday and Thursday. Monday, Tuesday and Friday, however, need consideration. QT, Bible reading and prayer take up about an hour or so on those days. Maybe I’m being over precise but I wonder about my attitude to giving to God.

Am I truly seeking communion and fellowship with God during those hours? Do I look forward to that time with the Lord? That’s my issue.

Application: Do my best to look forward to my designated time with the Lord.

Prayer: Lord, have mercy on my motivation to spending time with you. Give me your Spirit to commune with you outside of scheduled times so that I may worship you more deeply.