Tithe Something Before You Are Asked

After Abram rescued Lot and recovered the plunder of five cities, two kings came out to meet him. One was Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, who brought bread and wine and blessed him. The other was the king of Sodom, who offered Abram all the goods if he would only return the people. Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. To the king of Sodom he said that he would not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap, so that no one could say the king had made Abram rich.

The practice for this week is simple. Give a tenth of something before anyone asks and before any law requires it. It does not need to be your annual income. Start with this week's paycheck, or the money from a side job, or the produce from your garden. Set aside a tenth and give it to your church or to someone in need, and do it quietly.

The point is not the arithmetic. It is that Abram's gift was an act of worship, a way of saying that God Most High, not the king of Sodom, was the source of his wealth. When giving comes first, before the budget has its say, it shapes what you believe about where everything comes from. Try it for one week and notice how it changes your grip on the rest.