“‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.’”
Leviticus 27:30 (NIV)

Dedication is one of those words that I know its meaning but when you ask me to simply and clearly define it, it sort of escapes me. So, I looked it up this morning. It’s actually a Swiss army knife of a word. The American Heritage Dictionary actually had eight different definitions. For our purposes today, I’d like to focus on just two of them:

1. Selfless devotion.
2. The act of setting apart or consecrating to a divine Being, or to a sacred use, often with religious solemnities; solemn appropriation.

Today’s chapter is the final chapter of God’s instruction manual for the newly appointed Hebrew priests and the Hebrew people back in about 1500 B.C. God finishes the manual with a chapter about dedications and tithes. God has already talked about the offerings, sacrifices, and festivals that He wanted His people to weave into the fabric of their lives. He ends with instructions around acts of dedication that go above and beyond what has already been prescribed.

God tells His people that they have a choice to dedicate servants, houses, and land to God. What’s more, God tells them to consider a tithe (10 percent) of everything they have and everything their land produces belongs to Him. God has already told them that everything that they have been and will be blessed with are God’s divine and generous gift (Lev 26:3-5). In reality, all of creation, including all we are, have, and are blessed to acquire are God’s. God asks His people to gratefully embrace this truth and show it by consciously and willfully setting aside ten percent of everything as a tangible “thank you” back to God.

Why?

As I meditated on this question in the quiet this morning, my mind and heart found themselves wandering back to this pesky human problem of sin that began in the Garden of Eden. God gave everything in the Garden to them for their consumption, save one thing. They were given 99.9% of everything the Garden had to offer, but they couldn’t abide surrendering their appetite and desire to have it all.

I appears to me that God is, in effect, asking His people to turn their hearts back to Him in a way that reverses the Eden Problem. He has generously shown up, miraculously delivered them from slavery, and now promises to abide with them and bless them with life, provision, and land. As with Eden, He’s blessing them with everything. What He asks is that they recognize this and reserve just ten percent to offer back as an on-going “Thank you” card.

First, this requires a spirit of “selfless devotion.” It’s so easy to think that my paycheck is mine. It’s my job. It was my hard work that earned it. It’s my money. But, wait a second…

Who blessed me to be born in the wealthiest and most materially blessed nation in the history of the entire world?

Who blessed me to live in a place with a great educational system that taught me everything I know?

Who saw to it I was born into a family who provided for me, cared for me, and taught me everything I needed to succeed in life?

How blessed have I been to enjoy almost sixty-years of health, opportunity, and affluence?

Did I do one thing to make any of these things happen? Did I do anything to deserve the amazing lot in life that I’ve been afforded?

No.

And that’s the point that God is asking me to tangibly and metaphorically remember every day, every month, and every year of my life. Take ten percent and “set it apart” in a willful act that says:

“Everything I have is from you anyway, God. I wouldn’t have any of it if it wasn’t for you. And, it’s all yours anyway. Someday, any day now really, I’m going to die and my body will return to dust and ashes just like you said. Not a single thing I think I own or consider to be mine is going to mean anything at that point. Adam and Eve weren’t content with 99.9% of the Garden. They had to have that last one-tenth of a percent. I don’t want to live like that. I don’t want to be like that. Here’s ten percent, God. I dedicate it to you. I gratefully give it back to you.”

In the quiet this morning I am reminded of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed. One came back to say, “Thank you.” One of ten was grateful. Ten percent made a willful choice to turn around, trek back to Jesus, and offer his thanks. Jesus response?

“Where are the other nine?”

Wendy and I are consciously willful about being generous with the money and things with which we’ve been blessed. We talk about it. We practice it. We weave it into the fabric of our everyday lives. I don’t want to be like Adam and Eve, discontent with God’s gracious and generous blessing and deluded into thinking that anything (let alone everything) I think I own is really mine. I want to be a ten-percent person like the leper who came back to say “thanks.”

The further I get in my spiritual journey, the more I come to understand that the extent of my generosity is a leading indicator of the depth of both my spiritual understanding of the economics of God’s Kingdom, and my gratitude for God’s insane generosity towards me.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.