no frickin’ way. I just wrote an extensive, impassioned, painstakingly-edited post on this topic, and it seems to have disappeared. I was saving the drafts all along, but I must’ve hit some other key at the last minute and deleted the whole thing.

I have no doubt in my mind that this was the enemy’s work . . . I’m not at all being facetious. But I’ll write it again . . . of course, it likely won’t be as good as the original, but no matter how many times I try to hit the “back” arrow or the “undo” key, it’s just not there.

(pale imitation of the original post’s greatness follows after the fold . . . )  

The last time I paid my tithe was the day that I wrote this blog entry. Looking back, I am struck by the fact that my resentment preceded my lack of action. Apparently, Jesus’ warning also works in reverse, since apparently where my heart was far too willing to go, my treasure soon followed.

I don’t see this as a matter of legalism; rather, I believe it to be an obedience issue, and a heart issue. And my heart is most certainly not what it could be these days . . .

The short version is this:

I want to be obedient in paying my tithe, and I want to obey without any strings attached . . . without it being about my own interpretation of what “salvation” and “freedom” really look like when it comes to money. I don’t want to cling to “test Me in this” as if it’s a talisman; rather, I want to be obedient out of gratitude to the God I claim to serve.

Most of all, I want my heart and mind to be completely free of the love of money and the fear of what I will eat or drink or wear, or even what I will type my blog entries on, or drive to work, or whether I’ll have a “home” by the world’s standards.

At church tomorrow, my hope and prayer is that I will open my hands, even if I have to pry them open, and pay this debt of gratitude for all that I have been given, none of which was really ever mine. I can only hope that my heart and mind will eventually follow.