« Stewardship Devotional
Day Fourteen - Sacrifice of First fruits
2 Corinthians 8:3 “For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.”
Read
Deuteronomy 26:1-4, 9-11
Apply
The idea of ‘first fruits’ giving is to offer up to God the first rewards of our labor in acknowledgment that what we have is a gift from God. The first fruits were the choicest, the best of the harvest. The Israelites were saying, “God, you’ve given us this bounty, so know we give it back to you.”
Giving the first fruits is also a sacrifice. They could be sold for a higher price than the rest of the harvest. In giving them away, God’s people trusted Him to provide a continued harvest. It was therefore a sacrificial pledge; a promise that all things belong to God.
Christ gave sacrificially, and so Christian giving is sacrificial giving. His first fruits were the pledge of the Holy Spirit, the guarantee of the full harvest of his promise. Christians has always continued this practice, giving ‘off the top’ sacrificially, trusting that the Lord will provide.
- What would be the ‘first fruits’ of your life: your pre-tax income, your investments, your time, your abilities, your ‘earning potential’? How are those a gift from God?
- What kind of a plan could you create to give first to God in everything?
Pray
Pray for a renewed lifestyle that seeks to give God the first of everything in all areas of life.
Do
How could you encourage other Christians to help each other give first to God? How could our church community do that?
Copyright 1997. Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New York City