Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.
When I first got into recovery, I was going to a meeting every single day. When coworkers and friends asked about it, insinuating my behavior was excessive or obsessive, I explained that I drank every day. Was it a crutch? Yes. A cripple needs help. I was an emotional cripple and needed all the support I could get.
One of the first things I learned in those early meetings was to be of service. All recovery meetings are self supporting financially and operationally. Members donate their time, talents and money for the benefit of each group.
As members of a church, (if you're a Christian I certainly hope you're involved in a fellowship of believers,) we do the same thing.
Solomon reminds us here to honor God with the firstfruits of our crops. That means the cream. The best we have to offer. Why? Because everything we have is thanks to a loving Father who provided it all for us.
We don't offer the dregs of the coffee pot to visitors, we brew a fresh pot. We don't scrounge up a few pennies to give a gift to someone we love, we give lavishly from our wealth.
If it's so important to be kind to our guests and give extravagantly to a loved one here on earth, how much more important is it to give wholeheartedly to the One who gave it all for us?
Our firstfruits in this day and age are probably not crops, since few of us are farmers. We don't have much but we give financially first to God, no matter what. Each day I give God the firstfruits of my time in prayer, study and devotion before doing anything else. He comes first.
What's the best you have to offer God? Time? Talent? Financial wealth? Compassion? Whatever it is, give to God the best that you have. Not for ourselves, but for His honor and glory.
Father, we humbly come before You with all that we are and all that we have. We offer ourselves to You, a living sacrifice. Take our time, our talent, and all that we have; use them according to Your purposes for Your glory. May we honor You with the firstfruits of all our "crops," whatever they might be. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
