The third tithe I gave to orphans and widows, and to converts who were living with the Israelites. Every third year I would bring them this offering, and we ate it in keeping with the decree of the Mosaic law and the commands of Deborah, the mother of my father Tobiel; for when my father died, he left me an orphan. When I reached manhood, I married Anna, a woman of our own lineage. By her I had a son whom I named Tobiah. Now, after I had been deported to Nineveh, all my brothers and relatives ate the food of heathens, but I refrained from eating that kind of food. (Tobit 1: 8-11)

While in Israel Tobit did not join his neighbors in rejecting the Temple. After exile to Nineveh Tobit did not join his neighbors in bending the laws of Moses.

Tobit was scrupulous in giving thanks to God by giving. As an orphan himself, Tobit was especially attentive to the third tithe (Deuteronomy 14:28-29) by which widows, orphans, strangers and Levites were supported.

Tobit was a righteous man. Even more he was wholehearted. He was fully integrated. Tobit had integrity. He manifested consistency of belief, attitude, and behavior. He was coherent. He was not doubleminded, often offered as a critique by Jesus.

The book of James discusses the doubleminded as "unstable in all his ways." Tobit was swept up in a whirlwind, yet remained upright. Tobit was steady. He was one of a remnant through whom God could work to heal the world.

Tobit was orphaned. He was exiled. He would face other great challenges. Yet Tobit remained wholehearted in his relationship with God. Will this story tell us how?