Chasing daylight.....

Behold, God is my helper;
it is the Lord who sustains my life.
I will offer you a freewill sacrifice
and praise your Name, O Lord, for it is good." (Psalm 54, v4, 6)

Today's Psalm from the BCP Morning Prayer service reminds me once again that God wants to be the center of my particular universe. It is my belief that God is, in fact, the center of all of creation. Now I know that may be a challenge for some....but it's what I believe and I'm sticking to it! I could tell you some of the hair-raising events of my life where God has protected and redeemed , but that's another story.

One of the ways I choose to make my "freewill sacrifice" is to give back a portion of my financial gifts to my church community for the ministry of God. My husband, Richard, and I spent a number of years working toward the Biblical standard of giving ten percent of our earnings to our church. These past five years at St. Thomas Episcopal we have experienced great joy in tithing ten percent of our income. Our parish secretary has graciously agreed to withhold ten percent directly from my salary each pay period so that my gift comes "off the top", before taxes. I've never missed it and we've never been in need of any material possession which God has not provided.

Like nearly every other family in America, there are things which we might "want", but cannot afford, such as vacations, bigger houses, new cars or gifts for our children. But these things are simply unimportant and insignificant compared to the truly important needs of so many in our society and around our world. There are elderly or children who cannot afford medical care, others who cannot afford the basics of life such as food, clothing, water or housing. There are those who are ill, alone or destitute and God calls us to care for them out of the great resources WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN. It is an honor to serve God by serving God's people at St. Thomas and a privilege to give back a small portion of the resources we have been given so that we may continue to share with those whose needs Jesus has asked us to meet.

I challenge the reader to take that step of faith and give back ten percent of your income to your particular church home. As the psalmist writes in Psalm 40, v3: "God put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many shall see and stand in awe, and put their trust in the Lord."

God yearns for us to trust him and promises to fill our life with joy and praise, even in the tough times.