Wow. Even when I don't feel God calling me to look in the Bible, He gives me messages.Today, as I was cleaning up my house, I moved my Bible from the kitchen back to the Prayer Room, and my fingers fanned its pages.
As I was walking quickly (something I do when I'm cleaning, for some reason), I opened to a random page, not at all thinking that God would tell me anything.
In fact, perhaps I was subconsciously checking to see that He wouldn't speak to me because I was cleaning my house, after all. It's not like I was in a very reflective, contemplative state. Certainly, I wasn't in a posture of open receptivity to His voice.
And yet He chose to speak anyway.
As my eyes quickly scanned the page, guess what I saw? More words conveying the same message He had given me two days ago about my need to tithe in this Third Year of my Marian Promise! Yes, he was specific again about the THIRD year!
This is incredible because--if I am totally honest with you, dear reader--I will admit that the majority of me was wondering if this whole tithing notion was just a concept for me to think about in the hopes of becoming more charitable. I wasn't really taking it literally because to give 10% would be a hard pill to swallow. How did God know that I needed to hear this message again?
And, lest I should get hung up on the metaphor of harvesting the "first fruits" (and thus disregard the message since I do not have any fruit trees in my backyard), God's Scripture literally spoke to me point-blank about donating my money to the needs of the church and its people. Wow, God. Could you be any clearer with me?
Yes, in Deuteronomy Chapter 14, He had me read this:
"Each year you shall tithe
All the produce that grows
In the field you have sown.
If, however...you are not able to bring your tithe...
Considering how the Lord has blessed you,
You may exchange [this type of] tithe
For money and, with the purse of money in your hand,
Go to the place which the Lord, your God, chooses.
At the end of every Third Year,
You shall bring out all the tithes of your produce for that year
And deposit them in community stores
That the Levite who has no share in the heritage with you,
And also the alien, the orphan, and the widow
Who belong in your community
May come to eat their fill
So that the Lord, your God, may bless you in all that you undertake."
Well, it's time to do a little math as I figure out 10% of my income and divide it up throughout the year. I am terrified of what God is calling me to do and I'm worried that I will be disobedient because of my own selfishness and avoidance of inconvenience.
I am soooo prone to saying no to this by procrastination. Please, please, please pray for me, dear reader, that my heart will convert to what God is calling me to do! Lord, hold me responsible, please! Somehow, give me the courage to say YES.
