Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. Proverbs 3:9-10
One of the hardest lessons for us to learn in life is the principle of giving our firstfruits.
Why is that? Basically, because people tend to be selfish. People like the fact that God has blessed them; they sometimes tell Him thank you and then they tend to wrap their arms tightly around that blessing, not really wanting to share it with anyone, including The One who blessed them with it.
Does that remind you of anything?
Like how children act sometimes?
No wonder we struggle so much. When God blesses us richly, then asks us to give back to Him off the top instead tossing Him whatever might be leftover, our true character shines through.
Why do we tend to buck God, even when He promises He will bless us even more if we'll give our firstfruits to Him?
Could it have anything to do with trust? Or selfishness?
It is a hallmark of maturity in Christ to give of our firstfruits and be very generous with the things and money God has put in our possession.
How do these verses strike you?
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I think about a time in my life when this life is all I had.
ReplyDeleteI don't know very many people that don't want to give for God's purpose--many feel good about it when they do. I can see, however, that when I invested everything I had into enjoying this life, I was always in need of money to fulfill that enjoyment. How else do you do it when you don't have joy spoken into your ears and breathed into your lungs daily? It is so hard to allow God to be your joy because you feel like if He doesn't come through, you will have wasted all of your life in something that never showed itself. I get that. BUT, what we can remember is that God HAS A PERFECT PLAN for us, and it IS NOT for us to know many times. Letting Him plan our lives is the best joy we can ever experience on this side of heaven and is far better than anything money (or anything else) can provide. We can allow ourselves to be loved by the Almighty. He will take care of it! How can we pretend to know His wisdom? Just yesterday I realized why I wasn't blessed with a job that I wanted and found that it was a part of His pleasing and perfect plan for my life and the life of another. How could I ever know that at the time? I have ceased pretending to know what's best for me because I'M NOT GOOD AT IT. His imagination trumps mine any day of the week! It is so vast and creative--I can't possibly compete! I put it all in His hands now. How much better is it for me to let God do the dreaming for me!
This verse strikes me as a "Wake up Call". I put God on the backburner because sometimes I think about what I can do with the money I have instead of how I can be a blessing to others about the love of Jesus Christ.
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