Was there a reason why the first commandment is the one it is?
God is a jealous God. Not the insecure, petty jealous, but he wants to be acknowledged as the Lord your God.
This simple fact identifies so many layers of our faults when in relationship with God who wants all of you. Not all of your time, effort, and resources, but all of your heart.
This brought me to an idea that whether if we Tithe, Worship, or do anything, do it whole hardheartedly. Never in passing. The idea seems simple, but this very issue permeates every Christian who has lived a Christian for a while. We tithe from the back burner: post tax, post self-serving things, out of duty, before we get to church, before I forget... With this idea in mind, we shouldn't categorize this as tithing. We should call it something else. From what I've learned tithe is something that we give as first fruit. Imagine if everything that we "tithe" God rejects. How we have wasted our resources! How about we set aside God's money from every paycheck, we write a check and offer up our first fruit onto where it belongs. I believe he does not care How much we give whether if its 10% 20%, as long as we give from our heart.
Similarly, when it comes to worship or prayer. My theory is that he doesn't care about how long or how well. But when you know you gave your 100% from the heart, it would have been from a posture of undivided attention, pure devotion, a moment strictly between you and God. It's my personal pet peeve when someone is on the phone while I am devoting my attention to him or her. You feel unappreciated and your time is not valued. The way I imagine my devotion onto someone is if, I turn off everything, and give them my attention. No matter how long it is, no matter how great of a time it is. So how about when we worship, when we pray, we do it well. Don't worship on you way to work out of convenience, don't pray on your spare time, but be intentional. Set a time and place. At 10:00 pm everyday, drop everything and meet with the Lord. It's a sacred moment between you and him. It doesn't have to be long. Just offer up your pure wholehearted devotion. When you worship, it is different when you sing along with someone else's singing, whereas if you are singing to Him with just an audience of one. Pure devotion, from the heart, for the One and only.
