At the church, I’ve been teaching on the principle of “first fruits”. This is something that God set in place from the beginning of time. Basically it’s our opportunity to honor God with the first and best of everything He has blessed us with.
In the beginning, in the book of Genesis, God told Adam that he could freely eat of all the trees in the garden except one. That tree was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In verse 8 of Genesis chapter 2, the Bible tells us that God made every tree that was pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was probably the most pleasant to the sight because it caught the attention of the man and woman and the serpent was able to use that. It was you could say the best tree in the garden but, it was God’s tree.
When Cain and Able brought their offerings to the Lord, Cain brought just that, an offering, while Abel brought his best. The firstborn with the “fat” or in other words, the best portion of the best he had. It was his first fruits and it pleased God. After the flood, the first thing that Noah did was offer the best he had in the ark to God (it was the best in world also). The Bible tells us that it was a sweet smelling aroma to God. First fruits! Abram gave a tithe of all to Melchizedek after the battle from his spoils. First fruits! Abraham also went to offer his only son Isaac to God because God commanded him to, which actually was a test, but it was Abraham’s best. First fruits!
In the New Testament we see Jesus talking about seeking the Kingdom first. If you do that, God will take care of all the things that you and I need. When we put God first, it’s first fruits. So you see, first fruits is a principle that is threaded throughout the Bible. When we bring our first fruits to God, we are honoring Him with something that represents our lives. The tithe is a first fruit of our finances. It’s a tenth. And what that does is puts all of us on the same level no matter what our economic status. It’s all the same to God. Ten percent of a dollar and ten percent of a million is still ten percent. Now that’s cool. Paul tells us to come weekly and bring a gift storing up as we prosper. (1 Cor. 16:2) The NIV tells us that it’s according to each ones income. That’s the tithe and it’s first fruits. So it’s not about have to or it’s required. It’s about honoring God with our first fruits. Not only financially, but with our time and our talents too. Let’s make it our life’s aim to honor God with our first fruits.
