The following devotion is from Pastor Morris,
Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, and he is one of my favorite
preachers. This devotion encouraged
me. Thus, I share with you…
Exodus 23:19 NKJV
The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring
into the house of the Lord your God.
Imagine I’ve given you 10 one-dollar bills and you have them laid out side by side. My first question is, “How much is the tithe on this money?” I think most Christians would get this one right. The tithe on 10 dollars is, obviously, one dollar. But here’s the more difficult question. Which one is the first fruit? Is it the one on your left or is it the one on your right? Let me answer that for you. The first fruit is the first one spent or given. In other words, when you get paid, the first check you write should be the tithe check. I first heard this illustration from Pastor Mike Hayes of Covenant Church, and I like it because it perfectly represents what the Bible says about first fruits.
The Word makes it clear that we need to honor the Lord
with the first fruits of our increase. When we do, according to Proverbs 3:10, it honors
the Lord and our “barns will be filled with plenty, and [our] vats will
overflow.” Notice today’s Scripture designates “the house of the Lord” as the
proper place to give our first fruits. It doesn’t say to give them to a
television ministry or missionary, although I believe in supporting missionary
work and worthy media ministries.
Another example of first fruits in Scripture can be found
in the book of Joshua. After Jericho fell, the Lord gave the Israelites strict
instructions not to keep any of the spoils. All of it belonged to Him. Why did
the Lord say that all of the silver and gold from Jericho had to be given to
the Lord’s house? Because it was the first city conquered in the Promised Land.
It was the first fruit.
God didn’t say, “Conquer 10 cities and give Me all the
spoils from the tenth one.” He essentially said, “Give Me
the first and you can have the rest.” That took faith, of course—and so does
tithing. One Israelite disregarded God’s clear instructions. Joshua 7:1 says a man named Achan took some for
himself and became “accursed.” Think about that. When the spoils were given to
God, they were “consecrated” or set apart for God’s house. But when a man took
some for himself, it was actually cursing Israel’s efforts to take the Promised
Land. Consecrated or cursed—that’s exactly what the tithe is all through the
Bible. If we take the first fruits for ourselves, it becomes a curse because
we’ve stolen from God.
Is it really an act of faith to give 10 percent after all
your other bills are paid? What does it say about our priorities when we
willingly pay everybody else first and then see if there is enough left to give
God His portion? The first portion we spend should be the tithe. That is the
first fruit. And according to Exodus 13, the first portion is the redemptive
portion. That’s why it’s so important that our tithe is our first fruit. The
first portion has the power to redeem the rest, and I promise you a redeemed 90
percent can go a lot further than a cursed 100 percent.
Comments