Firstfruit
Do you believe in this principle? Is it relevant for us today?
Well let’s have a look at what the Bible has to say:
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
Nehemiah 10:35
We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord;
And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house.
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
This was an order that God gave the children of Israel when they got to Canaan, as a principle of thanksgiving, for providing for them and watching over them from when they left Egypt and were in the wilderness.
Deteuronomy chapter 6 explains it well: 10 And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, 11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; 12 Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
I have done it over the years and I have seen the benefits of doing it time and time again. Personally, it has been about giving over and about my tithing. Sometimes I have given my first pay in a new job; sometimes I have made a sacrificial giving from the sale of something or it has been a portion of a new job or giving away a love offering given to me etc…
As Christians, why do we still do it? Well because: we want to show God that we believe He will provide for us; to give thanks for His provision; to ‘sow a seed’ for something that we are believing God for and to ensure that God will bless our plans through the year.
More than anything, it is supposed to be an act of obedience to our God and do remember that it is the faithfulness of obedience that brings about His blessings and not the sacrificial giving itself.
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