“Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits
of the crops you sow in your field…”
Exodus 23:16
Harvest was payday in an agrarian society. Weeks and months of backbreaking toil finally paid off when it came time to harvest the grain.
We modern-day worshipers may say “my paycheck,” but who provided the job, the skill to do the job, and the education required to qualify for the job?
It all comes from our Heavenly Father. Everything we have, everything we are, is because of God’s provision. Giving back to Him through our offerings acknowledges that fact.
Many of us have no problem giving our tithe, but it does seem a bit risky to give it first.
Giving our firstfruits is a step of confident faith. Whether offering up the first of the crop, or writing the tithe check before paying the mortgage (or buying the groceries, or knowing how much it will cost to repair the washing machine), it means we are trusting there will be enough money—or grain.
It’s important to realize that God Almighty doesn’t need our money (or our grain). But He blesses us with the opportunity to depend on Him, and to demonstrate our faith in Him.
Cultivating the discipline of giving first will deepen your walk with the Father, and bolster your reliance upon Him.
R.G. Letourneau (a sixth-grade dropout who went on to become a tremendously successful inventor and businessman) said this about tithing: “It’s not how much of my money I give to God, but how much of God’s money I keep for myself.” What an inspiration!
Perhaps we can also apply the firstfruits principle to our time and talent, not only to our treasure. Devoting our first waking minutes to God—rather than delaying quiet time until later in the day—means trusting that everything else on the day’s To-Do list will be accomplished. It also means all the other tasks in the course of the day are transformed by time spent with Jesus.
I believe that giving to God first is about authority. It’s a statement that He is the Lord and I am the servant. As I yield my resources to Him, I am declaring my daily reliance upon Him.
Giving—and especially giving first—is cause for celebration. Are you ready to “Celebrate …with the firstfruits..?”
In this week’s Friday devotional video, Emily Brannon (Cross Church Pinnacle Hills) walks us through Chapter 6 of I Corinthians – specifically, guidelines for dealing with conflict that arises as we interact with one another. We hope you will be blessed as Emily shares some practical ways we can avoid conflict, as well as address it biblically:
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2023 will be here before we know it … and we are excited for what it will bring! For the rest of 2022, we’re offering a FREE set of next year’s Write the WORD bookmarks, printed in full color and mailed to you, for our readers who make a tax-deductible donation to support the ongoing ministry of Cross My Heart. (Given the cost to print and mail the bookmarks, we kindly request – but do not require – a gift of $20 or more to offset our expenses.) You can mail donations to: Cross My Heart Ministry, 1310 Scout Trail, Siloam Springs, AR 72761.
