Proverbs 3:9 "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits
of all your crops."
I heard this story today: A missionary serving in a small poor
village was approached by a fisherman and handed a fish. The
missionary asked 'what is this?" And the man responded that this was
his firstfruits, the first catch of the day, and that we was giving
this as an offering of the Lord. The missionary then asked, "were is
the rest of your catch?" To which the fisherman replied, "Oh, no I
haven't caught anything else yet."
What would it look like if we gave to God with the same level of
confidence as this fisherman? Trusting wholeheartedly that God would
provide the rest of the catch for that day?
About a month ago I joined a men's fitness group that meets at
5:30am. I'll be honest, I hate the morning. But I have never
regretted a single morning of getting out with these men for exercise,
time of fellowship and faithful discussions. As an avid athlete, I
love running, but there are plenty of times that I just don't want to
go running. However, I have never gotten a mile into a run and
regretted being out there. As a pastor, I love reading scripture with
people, but there are plenty of times that I just don't want to spend
the 45 minutes for Bible study. However, afterwards I have never
thought I regret spending the time strengthening myself spiritually
and connecting with others. I have never skipped an episode of my
favorite show--like Survivor--to spend time with my kids and my wife
and regretted that decision.
Conversely, there have been many evenings that I have watched a show
on A&E like PawnStars where afterwards, I think I wish I could have
that hour back. There have been many late evenings out, and college
(and post-college) experiences, where I woke up the next morning
wondering why I just wasted my time and my body--needing a day to
recover.
As we enter into the New Year, what would it mean to present the Lord
with your wealth and your firstfruits? What's holding you back?
Trust Him, if you honor him with your energy, your time, your
resources on the front end, you won't regret it.
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