We are called on to honor God, to make Him our dwelling place and our refuge. But how do we go about doing that? We can wonder how it is we are supposed to give honor to God, to submit to Him and show Him that we love the Lord.
For the Israelites who were led from Egypt, taken from a place of bondage and possible abuse to a new land, a place that God had promised them, the task was simple. What were the faithful instructed to do? How does this translate into our modern situation?
For the people entering into Israel, the Promised Land, the act of honoring God was fairly straightforward. They were to take their first-fruits – literally, the best of their crops and their animals – put them in a basket and take them to the priest at the temple. This was a tangible and visible expression of gratitude to God. It was an observable action that demonstrated obedience to God.
These people in this agrarian society, a people who survived primarily through the raising of crops and livestock, were to take the best of what they had and sacrifice it to God. They had to resist the temptation of providing for themselves with their best crops and their best livestock. It was to be given away to God.
In that way they demonstrated their trust and gratitude toward God. They made God their dwelling by handing over those things they would have liked to keep for themselves.
Our society and religious institutions are not set up the same way they were for the Jews thousands of years ago. We can’t imagine setting a basket of our finest corn, soybeans, wheat or sheep on the altar at our church. Are we then excused from such a sacrifice?
The sacrifice that we should be willing to make should be that God is considered first when we examine our situation. An offering to God may not take the form of an animal or a basket of vegetables. Instead we may choose to give money. We may choose to give of our time and energy.
What is essential is that these donations are given first, before we care about ourselves. We should be certain that we sacrifice to the Lord – time, money, possessions – before we worry about meeting any other obligations. When we are able to give to God first we are making God our dwelling. We are expressing love and gratitude to the Lord.
When we do this, when we have this attitude, we will be blessed by the Lord for our sacrificial and loving actions.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What first-fruits do you have to give to God?
