Light & Grace: On Tithing Time & Why Scriptures+Mornings Go Together


Just when I thought I already got the whole idea of tithing, I discovered a new (to me) concept called "tithing time". Me and a friend were on the topic of Liturgy reading when a question about what time of day are we able to fit in this habit came up. I told her that whenever I wake up earlier than my baby, I'm able to read the Bible in the morning. Then we shared an embarrassing laugh on the reality of the enemy force being so strong in terms of distraction (Wait, another interesting Youtube video!) that this simple act is pushed till night time, or worse till we forget about it.

Here's my reconstructed version of her mind-opening words to me:

"God, gave us the gift of time. Like our skills, ability & talents that lead us to our earnings, time is a gift. Whenever someone gives us a gift, we give acknowledge and give thanks, right? Same with time, we are to give back to the Giver. Arbitrarily, let's call what we'll be giving back "the best 10% of our time". Reading the Liturgy and talking to God are examples of tithing time. When is your best 10% of the day? Can you call your tira-tira (left-over) moments your best 10%?

For some people, their best time of the day is during nighttime. If your time tithe is in the form of reading the daily Liturgy, it doesn't have to be during the morning  but it makes sense to do so. 

Why? Because of God's sovereignty. Because He is all-knowing (If you acknowledge this by heart, you'll understand the next lines fully.), He knows what we'll be needing for the rest of the day. He didn't let us grope in the darkness. He sent His Living Word that holds true then, now and forever. As you tap into the Scriptures, somewhere in it lies a message for you, for the particular life that you live, for your particular day. That's why it makes sense to know His message before we begin the day. Who doesn't need guidance & grace as we go about our waking hours, really?"

As you can see above, I have an angel friend on earth. :)

P.S. God's sovereignty, its depth and truthfulness, used to be very vague to me but C.S. Lewis helped me and my angel friend grasp it somehow. You just know there's more to The Chronicles of Narnia than meets the eye, yes? I'll talk more about it on my next Light & Grace post. (Update: My C.S. Lewis post is up! Check it out HERE.)

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