First Fruits

The other day I was visiting with a friend in ministry who had received goods for a donation to their ministry.  We were discussing this donation and the nicest thing I can say about it is what my mother always told me about gifts, “Never look a gift horse in the mouth.” And “It’s the thought that counts.”   Now on the one hand we should always be appreciative of gifts; I always try to be a gracious receiver because I don’t want to rob the giver of the joy they receive from giving.  However, when it comes to giving to the Lord and His ministry, some of the things that are given cause me to think of the hymn Give of Your Best to the Master.

In case you have forgotten the words I will reprint some of them here.
Give of your best to the Master;
Give of the strength of your youth;
Throw your soul’s fresh, glowing ardor
Into the battle for truth.
Jesus has set the example,
Dauntless was He, young and brave;
Give Him your loyal devotion;
Give Him the best that you have.
Give of your best to the Master;
Give Him first place in your heart;
Give Him first place in your service;
Consecrate every part.
     -Howard B. Grose, The Endeavor Hymnal, 1902.

In Deuteronomy 18:4-5 it is written, “You are to give them the first fruits of your grain, new wine and oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep, for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord's name always.”  Now I always thought that this just meant that we are to give to the Lord first, right off the top, until I discovered that the first cutting of hay is the better cut.  Being a city boy I just assumed hay was hay; in fact when I see hay fields it just looks like a bunch of weeds to my uninformed eye.  But those who know better know that is not true.

When we give to the Lord we are to give of the first fruits, the cream of the crop, the best, as the song says.  We shouldn’t give the Lord our leftovers, our seconds, our discards.  But so often that is what we do give to the Lord in all aspects of our lives.

I remember hearing the story about the woman who called up the turkey hotline asking how long turkey will stay good in the freezer.  She had a turkey that had been in the freezer for over a year and was wondering if it would be okay to eat.  The expert said that it would be safe but most likely would not taste very good.  The caller then responded, “Okay, I’ll give it to the church.”

So often when we give to the Lord, we take care of everything else first.  In our monetary giving we pay the mortgage, the car payment, the utilities, the groceries, the cable bill, entertainment, child care, health care, and then if there’s enough left over we give a little to the Lord.  We do this because we look at the pie of money we have and dole out the allotments based upon how much is there and how much our expenses are.  And for many of us we often discover there is too much month at the end of the money.  I will be the first to admit that I’m just as guilty of doing this as anyone else.  It’s difficult for us to do it any other way.  We have X number of dollars that has to go out and Y number of dollars that come in and we hope that Y is equal to or even greater then X.  So that if we give to God first out of Y, Y becomes smaller than it was and it might not be enough to cover X. 

Probably one of the quickest ways to demonstrate our faith is through our giving, because to give first to the Lord is a huge leap of faith.  It requires us saying to ourselves and the Lord, “Okay Lord, here are my first fruits, now I’m trusting you fully to provide what I need out of what is left over.”  That is a scary place to be for us, even though time and time again the Lord provides for us out of His abundant love and mercy.

Time and time again the Lord has done even more than meet my immediate needs and yet I am still fearful about making ends meet.  I still worry and fret about providing for my family.  But I have learned one thing and practice it well, even when I’m terrified of what the future will bring:  when I’m being tossed around in a financial tsunami, I cling to the rock that is Jesus and discover time and time again that when the morning comes, He’s still there and I’m still standing, clinging to Him.
 

Pastor Shawn Geer
First Baptist Church
Plainfield, IA