Firstfruits
Scripture Reading — Proverbs 3:5-10
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.
She was a single mother with little time and even less money. She often felt alone, with each new day’s to-do list seeming to demand two days of work.
Sometimes a harvest does not come easily. We often read verses like this in Proverbs and imagine them to apply to the seasons when we have plenty, when life is full and barns overflow. Yet a harvest requires hard work. The season demands our full energy and attention.
God asks for firstfruits. He stops us at the beginning of the harvest, in the midst of our busyness, when we have no guarantee of the final result. God calls us to thank him for what he has already provided, to give back the first part of what we’ve been given, trusting that he will provide for the rest of our harvest.
It’s not easy to trust God with firstfruits. Even in harvest time, lots of dangers can threaten the yield: late season storms, delays due to equipment breakdowns, early frosts, plant-damaging insects. Wouldn’t it be better to finish the harvest first, and then worship?
God never promises an easy process. But he does promise that the harvest will be complete. Even when the firstfruits of our work seem underwhelming and the obstacles staggering, God invites us to trust his path for our lives.
What firstfuits can you offer to the Lord today?
Lord, encourage us when we worry that the harvest will be too small. Help us to trust you even with meager beginnings, and bless our efforts. Amen.
About the author — Joel Vande Werken
Joel Vande Werken has been a pastor since 2007, serving churches in Sussex, New Jersey, and in Whitinsville, Massachusetts. He and his wife, Brandie, have five young children.
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