A man spoke in our sacrament meeting yesterday. When I saw him sitting on the stand I remembered something he said last time he spoke that impressed me because it inspired me. Today's topic, tithing, seemed far afield from his previous topic so I was surprised when he mentioned it again. He was talking about being aware of paying our tithing. In his case his wife wrote the check and he could go weeks without thinking about it. Earlier in his talk he shared three or four experiences with paying his tithing. He talked about a time in his life when he felt he was making a sacrifice and another time (when he had his first real job) when he felt, perhaps smugly, that he was doing something noble because of the amount of tithing he was paying. The feeling he wanted to have as an adult was the reverence he felt as a six year old when he carefully figured out what ten percent was and then paid his tithing. He spoke of tithing as a way to remember that everything we have belongs to the Lord and when we pay tithing we remember that we also belong to Him. Tithing can become an expression of our love for God and it can be an act that strengthens our relationship with Him. Then he wondered if he saw the blessings that came from paying his tithing. The promise is that the windows of heaven will open and pour out blessings beyond what we can hold. How do we become more aware of those blessings?
Then he came to the topic he had spoken of before. He acknowledged that he had brought it up the last three times he had spoken in church. He said he spoke of it again because he felt it held the key to having the right feelings about paying tithing and it helped him be more aware of the blessings God gave him and his family because they paid tithing. He said, "Well, it's the Sunday School answer." Then he described a daily routine that includes reading the scriptures, pondering what he read, then asking in prayer what Heavenly Father wanted him to do that day to further His work. He said he brought it up again to acknowledge how his life had been blessed since he had adopted this daily habit. He spoke of peace, contentment, and of not being so anxious about things that sometimes concerned him. His words inspired me again. I'm a religious educator by profession so I'm often in the scriptures as part of my work. But, like everyone else, I know it is important to have a daily devotional experience with prayer and scripture reading. But sometimes in the business of the day this gets pushed aside. Brother Walker's talk inspired me to do better. I will say this, lately in my studies I've been impressed with the miracle it is to have God's words. Recently a morning prayer was a little longer because I was thinking about and thanking Heavenly Father for the sweet experiences I have had with His words. A veil in our mind has caused us to forget our pre-mortal experiences. Here we walk by faith. The scriptures, prayer, the Spirit, and God's love are all things that can reach through the veil and connect us with heaven. And all of these things bring us peace and happiness.
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