"Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming.
For after today cometh the burning—this is speaking after the manner of the Lord—for verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon."
Doctrine and Covenants 64:23-24
The way that God talks about "today" and "tomorrow" here is interesting... harking back to the creation story and the idea that God's day is a lot longer than ours. :) Although, I am not sure about the time period or the background idea because God also tells us that time is only measured unto man (Alma 40:8), and that at some point there shall be time no longer (Revelation 10:6, D&C 88:110). Maybe we just need these measurements until the final judgement and everything is upgraded to "Eternal" or something, but I can't pretend to really understand what that means, or what it would be like. :)
What does seem clear is that tithing is important, not as a monetary thing, but as part of the idea of sacrifice. A commitment to God that is well beyond the surface layer, where we are honestly committed and all in, and willing to do or give anything to the cause. We don't usually think of ourselves are that committed to anything, but sometimes we lapse into workaholism or other kinds of addictions, or hobbies, relationships, or even family commitments that consume us. The idea here is that God is the right place to pour all of that energy and time, and as we do, other things will fall into place, rather than the way we do it with other things, where so many other things are just left to rot or wither.
I think also the idea of sacrifice here is about how committed that we are going to have to be in order to survive spiritually. Nothing less than all in is going to work, as we get closer to the end. Today (in both senses of that word), let's learn more about God and study his ways so that we know enough to make such a committment.
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