The Knowing God Ministries Luncheon – November 21
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Then it shall be when you enter the land which the Lord gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, that you shall take the first of all the produce of the ground which you shall bring from the land the Lord gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name . . . and you shall say before the Lord your God. . . ‘I have brought the first produce of the ground which Thou, O Lord, hast given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God . . . you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and your household.
Deuteronomy 26 (verses 1, 5, and 10)
Deuteronomy 26 (verses 1, 5, and 10)
Okay – -I’m admitting this hideous self-truth immediately: plants commit suicide when they see me coming. They know I’m either going to drown them or starve them –no middle ground; the subtleties of plant-nurturing have been lost on me.
Two years ago, I gave it one last hurrah, and planted what I called my “crop circle” –
. . . and $250 later, I had eaten precisely ONE amazing tomato-basil salad, when overnight, the rest of the garden became DEER SALAD.
I surrendered. No more gardening for me.
So I have had a somewhat bewildering time embracing the Biblical idea of “first fruits” in Deuteronomy 26 (above): My “ground” and, more clearly, my talents don’t produce vegetation! Perhaps you, too, do not tend a garden . . .
How, then, do you and I give our “first fruits”?
Here’s how: by seeing that EACH DAY the Lord wakes us up, He is presenting us with a GARDEN RIPE FOR THE HARVEST. And, He, therefore, asks us to give HIM the first fruits of that garden/day.
In other words, by offering our first moments to the Lord (in what is commonly called a “quiet time”), we are bringing HIM the “first fruits”, not only of our day – but of our HOUSEHOLD, as well. Proverbs 3:9says: “Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce.”
In other words, the Lord realizes when we give Him our first fruits of each day, we are choosing HIM above our households . . . so He beautifully adds this promise to His command from verse 9 in verse 10: “. . . so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will over-flow with new wine.”
WE GIVE – HE REPLENISHES!
And not just “replaces” – -He fills to over-flowing and plenty!
And, here is another amazing truth: we aren’t called simply to do this “because He said so” – we are called to do this BECAUSE HE DID SO! Colossians 1:15 says this of Jesus: “And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.”
God gave us His first fruits by offering up Jesus to cover the penalty of sin (death) and then replenished that offering to full and overflowing by raising Jesus from the dead, and granting us ALL eternal life!
As Tara points out in CREATED FOR PURPOSE (Week 3/Day3, pg.57)*:
“When we seek Jesus first in daily priorities . . . we will be fruitful in whatever He tells us to do . . . . . When we seek Him first and foremost, we can watch our lives fall into place.”
Let’s give the Lord the first fruits of each day: -precious, holy, first-waking moments – -set apart to praise Him, to worship Him – and hear Him speak into what the REST of the HARVEST OF THAT DAY will look like.
Plants may still commit suicide around me, but it is my earnest prayer that each DAY the Lord grants me will yield a harvest of Life, Life, and MORE LIFE!
[To kick-start your worship in this manner, CLICK HERE for Chris Tomlin’s “Glory in the Highest”, which begins with the words: “You are the FIRST. . . You go before.”]
*See our resources page [here] to order CREATED FOR PURPOSE.
Or to learn HOW to develop a quiet time and an intimate relationship with God, start with INTIMACY WITH GOD. Contact us if you need assistance in determining which study is right for you.
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