37 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
The Bible explains , many times, that we are to give our "firstfruits." In bible times, people lived on the food they grew. Giving God their firstfruits would mean giving Him the best and the first of what they had to give.
Giving your firstfruits is a tangible, visible way of telling God that He is first in your life. God has always demanded that He be first because He is God. In Revelation 2:4, Jesus told the church: "You have left your first love." Jesus had slipped into second or third place. When God stops being first, we have a problem.
Colossians 1:18 tells us we should live in a way "that [Jesus] Himself might come to have first place in everything." Jesus wants to be the focus of every aspect of your life all the time, without exception. Why? Because everything we have and ever will have is from God. He deserves to be the focus because He is the Creator, Sustainer, Source, Savior, and King.
A passage from Haggai tells us where our priority as stewards should be:"You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; … he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes" (Haggai 1:6). When God is not first, we can't possibly enjoy the stuff of life. Whenever the provisions of God become your god, you have replaced the true God with your own god. Why do we continue to rob from God, and then expect Him to still bless us. I read, that in a church poll, they found that only about 11% of church goers tithed. Even fewer were willing to donate there time to the body of Christ. This suttle disobedience to God could ruin you financially, and hinder you from a deeper relationship with God. Ask yourself this question: Are you sowing into the Kingdom, or are you filling your purses, only to find out one day it is all gone?
HOW DARE WE LIVE FOR THE BLESSING'S OF THIS LIFE, INSTEAD OF THE GOD WHO PROVIDES THE BLESSING?
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