December 24, 2022

Passage Read: Deuteronomy 12-15
Meditation Verses: 14:22-23

Thought

For agricultural communities, the tithe would be gathered annually, at the beginning of the harvest. How much food would that be? It could be a huge amount, depending on the size of the flocks and fields. But for us, we are usually paid every other week. What would it be like to take the tithe and use it to celebrate before the Lord each paycheck? If a whole church came together to celebrate their tithe twice a month, there would be too much food! You'd have to invite more people to come and help eat it so there were no leftovers, at least beyond the second day. Is that why the Lord set a time limit within which to eat the fellowship offering? To force His people to share with each other?

Application

What if a church gathered together all their tithes as food each paycheck, surely there would be too much for everyone to eat. They would have to invite friends and relatives and neighbors to help eat. What an outreach that could be, celebrating and singing and checking in on each other, rehearsing the goodness of the Lord. It sounds like the love feasts of the Corinthians, but sharing would need to be encouraged to prevent their error. This would be something worth trying. God required the tithe once a year and two other feasts annually, for three times a year; would twice a month be too much?