God only commanded the people of Israel to tithe, which means they were asked to give up 1/10 of everything they had to the LORD our GOD. For example, "Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD'S; it is holy to the LORD." (Lev 27:30)
A few weeks ago in my Sunday School class we were talking about tithing and our sacrificial giving. One of our classmates brought up that tithing (a tenth...aka 1/10) our time would be 5.2 weeks out of our year. The question is do we give up that much time specifically for God?
52 weeks a year x 1/10 = 5.2 weeks
5.2 weeks x 7 days a week = 36.4 days
36.4 days x 24 hours a day = 873.6 hours
873.6 hours x 60 minutes = 52416 minutes
52416 minutes x 60 seconds = 3144960 seconds
In a single year if you attend Sunday School and Church (approx. 2 hours) every Sunday is a total of 104 hours a year. So we still have 769.6 hours to devote to sacrifice for God. Do you think you're meeting this goal? I can honestly say I don't know if I am. There are many activities I've participated in over the years such as Prayer, Bible study, Choir, Teaching, Missions, Building Committee, Praise Team, Youth Leadership, and more. Some years I have been closer to tithing the hours above, but I'm certain I have never been remotely close to that sacrificial ten percent. In order to meet the sacrificial tithe you would need to spend 2.4 hours every day for 365 days a year. That doesn't sound so bad, but in the world of media and technology, we are super busy. We complain about fitting just about anything into our schedules. Do we really have two and a half hours to give up daily?
The gospel of Jesus Christ does not commanded a tithe. Prior to giving anything to the Lord, we must give Him our hearts, for giving which is void of a personal relationship with Jesus does not please God. Once we have that personal relationship with Jesus we should desire to be a sacrificial giver. For example, "Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, 'Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.'" (Luke 21:1-4)
As you spend time in prayer consider asking God what your sacrificial gifts of service are and then how much time you are to put into them. God's timing is perfection and He will guide you accordingly. He may not call you to serve two and a half hours everyday, but then again, He may ask for more. We simply need to trust in the Lord for His direction. Trust me, He won't steer you wrong.
Love, Sydni
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