While studying Deuteronomy 26 to answer Eyley's question on tithing, verse 12 caught my attention. It says, "When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied." According to this verse, the year of tithing for a business is in the third year. Did I get this right? In order to make sense of this information, I asked myself, "Why would God choose the third year as the year of tithing for a business?"
I have always related the profit of a business to the fruit of a tree. As a farmer, I learned that most plants start to bear fruits in the third year. Before this time, the plant only focuses its energy on strengthening its roots and growing its shoots. It needs to do this so that it can build a stable foundation that will allow it to bear a lot of fruits in the future. If I follow the model of the plant, the verse is telling me that God allows us three years to build the infrastructure of our business and correct our weaknesses so that we may first stabilize, then profit. After this, the verse above gives us instruction on how and to whom we should allot our tithes.
Interestingly, I have always been taught that all my tithes should be given to the church I attend and to help those in mission. But Deuteronomy 16:12 tells me that I should also give it "to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow." While I do not want to challenge what the churches are teaching, I am sharing this only because nobody pointed this out to me before.
I believe that if your business is from the Lord, then it should be able to profit in the proper season. And when it profits, we should use the Lord's portion to support our pastors/priests, widows, orphans and strangers. This idea affirms my belief that God entrusted our business to us so that we can be a blessing to the people around us - all in the proper season.
Note: Ms Eyley Gaw is a member of Keepers of His Garden Community in Viber. She asked me where we should give our tithes.
