“When you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.” - Leviticus 23:10
In the Old Testament law the "first fruits" were always to be offered to God. The first, and best, of grain, animals, foods, money, even a firstborn son, were to be offered and/or dedicated to God.
Like all of the Old Testament laws, these laws were not given to burden us, but to guide us into better living experiences. [Don't murder, don't steal, rest one day a week.] These types of laws, when obeyed, create better living experiences for everyone. Likewise, giving a portion of our "first fruits" to God will actually prove to create a better living experience.
The first church, in the book of Acts, became free from the old Law. Yet, we see that they actually started giving nearly all of their belongings to God. They no longer needed a law to tell them what to give, what to do, or what not to do. The overwhelming love, trust and faith in their hearts compelled them to do even more than what the law had ever required.
Recently I was considering the idea of giving, or dedicating, our firstfruits to God. While it's important, and beneficial, to give from our external provisions, perhaps we easily forget to give God the firstfruits of our internal provisions. Each day that we wake up it is a gift from God; we have been given breath, heartbeats and an ability to think. These are all gifts and provisions from Him, just like wealth and any other external provision.
What if, each day, we gave God the first fruits of our thoughts. What if we woke up and did not give our first thoughts of the day to worries or concerns. What if we didn’t send the “morning crew” of our neurotransmitters into heavy labor - thinking about the problems or burdens in our lives and our society. What benefit could there be for us if we applied this principle, of intentionally giving our first fruits, to our thinking.
Ultimately God gives us every single thing that we have. Every breath, every dollar, and every once of energy; enabling us to live, to move, to function, and even to think. Although it’s not a popular thing in our society, we should willingly, lovingly, and freely give back to God a portion of all that we have been freely given and blessed with.
In one area of scripture God had addressed some people about the fact that they had stopped their acts of giving. When God addresses this change in their behaviors He does so in a way that also puts the idea of their “giving” into a proper perspective. God said that the people were “robbing” Him.
When we realize that everything we have comes from God, then we can realize that ‘our possessions’ were never really ours, but His. Each breath in our lungs, each neurotransmitter in our brain, our wealth of money, property, etc., it all comes from God; and therefore is Gods.
When we stop giving back to God, from what He has given us, it is only due to misconception and delusion, thinking that the things we have are actually ours. From this delusion we begin to selfishly and fearfully withhold from giving, which puts us in jeopardy of “robbing” God.
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.”
‘But’, you ask, ‘how are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, [I will rebuke the devourer], and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty.
Malachi 3:8-11
When we fall into the delusion that we must hold onto all that we have, that we must take care of ourselves, and we must use all our thoughts, energy, time and money to figure out how to handle our lives, with its worries and other issues, then we find ourselves falling away from the truth that it's ultimately Him (God) who takes care of all our needs. As we live in this false reality it causes us to take on more stress, anxiety, and burdens than we were ever meant to carry. Therefore, life begins to feel miserable, hectic, and even as if our lives were cursed.
As a victim of extreme anxiety, stress, and fears I can attest to the experience of feeling like my mind and emotions were “cursed”. As I look back at prior years of my life I am now aware of how I ignorantly, deceptively, fell into the habit of not giving God my first fruits. At the very least I should have been giving some of my awake and conscious thoughts and moments back to God. Focusing on who He is. Focusing on gratefulness, on thankfulness and the blessings I have.
I realize now that this very simple act, of giving back to God, has done exactly what He said it would do. God said, “test me in this. Start giving your first fruits [of your thoughts, time, and wealth] and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven [blessings, goodness, peace and joy], so much blessing that you won’t be able to contain it.
If it seems that your mind, your thoughts, your emotions, your energy, or your finances have been under a curse, start giving the first fruits of those to God and watch Him stop that curse. God promises that He will “rebuke”, remove, the devourer. The unseen thing that seems to steal your joy, your peace, your energy or maybe your money.
If you want healing and freedom, especially mentally and emotionally, then test God. Start giving Him the first fruits of your time and thoughts each day. See if He won’t begin to heal, protect, restore and lavishly bless you. A small sacrifice on our part can create a world of difference. Literally it can, and will, shift us from experiencing an internal hell to the experience of Heaven on earth.
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