Why it Matters - First Fruits

Readings for today: Deuteronomy 24-27

Gratitude. Thanksgiving. Remembering all the things the Lord has done for you. My wife and I are currently enjoying some time up in the mountains. It’s her spring break and a dear family in our church generously offered their condo for us to stay in for the week. As we were eating dinner our first night here, we started talking about all the blessings we’ve been given in our lives. We talked about when we first got married. We had no money. We were living on minimum wage in Boulder, CO at the time. We had no real plan. My grades from college were so bad no seminary would take me. We had experienced significant loss. Our firstborn son, Caleb, didn’t survive past twenty-two weeks in the womb. We had no idea where life would take us. But we did know one thing. We knew God. We knew God was faithful. We knew God was with us. And we knew if we sought God’s will and walked in His ways, our lives would be rich and full. This really is the secret to the Christian life. Seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness first and all the rest will be added to you. Take care of the things God cares about first and He will take care of the things you care about. Put God first in your schedule, in your finances, in your priorities and you will find Him filling your heart and your hands to overflowing with His blessings.

This is why the principle of first-fruits is so important. Before we do anything else, we offer to God the first and best of the fruit of our labor. For ancient Israel, this meant the first-fruits of their harvest and the first-fruits of their flocks and herds and the first-fruits of the tribute they won in battle. For us, it looks like the first-fruits of our paychecks or the first-fruits of the interest we earn on our investments. We do not give because God needs it. He doesn’t. We do not even give because God commands it though He most certainly does. No, we give out of gratitude for all He has done for us. Listen again to the prayer every ancient Israelite made when they came to make their offering of first-fruits to the Lord. “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people. But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor. So we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power, as well as with great awe-inspiring signs and wonders. Then he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground’s produce that you, Lord, have given me.” Then you must set it down before the Lord your God and worship before him. You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭26‬:‭5‬-‭11‬ ‭NET‬‬) God made them a great and powerful and numerous people. God delivered them from humiliation and toil and oppression. God brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey. Because God did all these good things for us, we give out of gratitude and celebration.

So let’s talk about giving for a moment. Do you give regularly and faithfully to the Lord? Do you prayerfully consider what to give and do you give it cheerfully or out of a sense of duty or obligation? Do you give God the first-fruits of your labor or what’s leftover at the end of a pay period? When you give, do you take time to remember and celebrate and thank the Lord for all He has done for you? Let me encourage and challenge you to spend some time praying over these questions today and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you reflect on what God is calling you to give.

Readings for tomorrow: Deuteronomy 28-30

Happy Thanksgiving!

Readings for today: 2 Corinthians 1-4

Like many Americans, I will gather with family today and feast and celebrate all everything I am thankful for in my life. My family, particularly my wife and children. The many friends I have around the world. My colleagues in ministry. The incredible people I get to work with on a daily basis. The many godly men and women who call PEPC home. The many ministries and missions we get to be part of both locally and globally. The connections God has allowed me to make over the years. The impact of the Holy Spirit in my life and through my life. My country even with all the challenges we currently face. The men and women who serve our communities as first responders. The men and women who serve in our military forces around the world. Most of all, I thank God for what He did through Jesus Christ. Born into our world. Becoming a human just like us. Suffering and dying for us. Rising again to defeat death and sin and evil once and for all. It’s breathtaking to take it all in.

Perhaps the thing I am most thankful for this year is that God never gives up. Not on me. Not on you. Not on the world. I have watched God pursue those I love with relentless love. I have seen Him turn their hearts away from sin. I have watched Him transform them from one degree of glory to another. It’s amazing. And it’s what I love most about Him. He always sees the best in us. He always sees what He first created in us. He is always seeking to call His will and His glory out of us. The same was true for the Apostle Paul. I think of all that went wrong in Corinth. The Christians there were a divided and fractious bunch. They caused him all kinds of headaches and heartburn. He wrote them at least four letters that we know of though we only have two of them. He thought of them constantly. Prayed for them constantly. Confronted them constantly. They took up a lot of his time and energy. But still Paul saw in them what God saw in them. He could see the Spirit of God working in them. Transforming them. Changing them from the inside out. He could see the treasure God had entrusted to them though he knew they were fragile jars of clay. He could see that God hadn’t given up on them so he couldn’t give up either. Though their outer bodies were wasting away, their inner natures were being renewed day by day. The momentary light afflictions they were causing Paul or perhaps suffering themselves were not worth comparing to the weight of glory God had entrusted to them. How does Paul maintain such hope in the face of all the challenges? He focuses not on what is seen but what is unseen.

What about us? I think about the people I love who I will spend time with this holiday season. Inevitably, we will have our moments. Moments where we irritate or perhaps even offend each other. Moments where we struggle to get along or to say a kind word. Moments where we fight or argue or say things we wish we could take back. What if we entered this season with a commitment to focus not on what is seen but what is unseen? Not on what is on the outside but what God is doing on the inside? What if we asked God to give us the eyes to see the transformation He is working out in the hearts of those we love and live with and among? Would it not lead to thanksgiving?

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Corinthians 5-9

Thanksgiving

Readings for today: 2 Thessalonians 1-3

We are heading into Thanksgiving week. If your family is like mine, you have adult children flying in from all over the country or perhaps planning to drive down to spend the day. Multiple generations of our family will take time out of busy schedules to gather, fellowship, eat a great meal, and share why they are thankful. Of course, there are many who feel alone this year as well. My dad passed away almost two years ago and my mom is still feeling the loss. My brother never has married and holidays are hard for him. I know many who are divorced who experience loneliness this time of year. However, even in the hard moments during holidays, there is much to be thankful for. Health. Provision. Opportunity. Professional success. Our nation. The men and women who serve in our armed forces both domestic and abroad. Those who serve as first responders in our communities. Most of all, our faith.

The Apostle Paul was a thankful man. We see it over and over again in his letters. He thanks God for just about every single church. He thanks God for just about every single brother and sister in Christ. He is thankful for the ways he sees God at work in their midst. Amidst hardship. Persecution. Division. He thanks God for His miracles. He thanks God for His blessings. He thanks God for the grace He has lavished on us in Jesus Christ. And when one reads Paul’s letters, we might be tempted to think life was pretty good for Paul. He must have had it okay. He must have never faced struggles or temptations or wrestled with anxieties and fears. Of course, nothing could farther from the truth.

Paul suffered throughout the course of his life. Especially after becoming a Christian. He worked long hours. He was imprisoned. Subject to death threats. Five times he received 40 lashes. Three times beaten with rods. Once he was stoned and left for dead. Three times shipwrecked and at least one of those times he spent a day and night adrift at sea. He lived in constant danger on his travels. Not just from the elements or from the roving bands of highwaymen who often waylaid people on the road but from his own people. He often went sleepless. Often went hungry. Often suffered from exposure. He struggled with anxiety over his churches. Fears of their future. He did not live an easy life. And yet he was thankful.

How is it possible to be thankful in a world where death seems to lie around every corner. Cancer. Heart attacks. Strokes. I think about the earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, wildfires, or famine over which we have so little control. The suffering these natural disasters create is enormous. I think about the life-threatening poverty around the world that I’ve seen. Men and women and children suffering from addiction. I think about the burdens I carry. Anxieties over the churches I serve. Fears for my own family. Uncertainty over the future. It’s enough to drive me mad.

God calls us to be thankful. I love what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 1:3, “We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing.” Yes, there is much that is wrong in the world. Evil. Injustice. Oppression. These are real things that must be resisted at all costs. At the same time, God calls us to focus our attention on the people and places where faith is flourishing and love is increasing. This is what creates a heart of gratitude within us. When we see God at work and it’s why it’s so important for us to get involved in what He’s doing in the world.

Readings for tomorrow: Acts 18:19-28, 19:1-41

Happy Thanksgiving

Readings for today: Titus 1-3, Psalms 23

I love Thanksgiving. I love to take time to reflect on all the blessings God has poured into my life. Truly I am a wealthy man by any standard. I am rich in relationships with family and friends. I am rich in my work, being blessed to serve an incredible congregation of people who passionately serve the Lord. I am blessed with a strong marriage to one of the most godly women I have ever met. I am blessed with four wonderful children and a daughter-in-law whom I love dearly and enjoy great relationships. I am blessed with leadership positions and influence in my church, a local seminary, a mission organization, and my denomination. I am blessed with an abundance of health, both mentally and physically, and financial provision, having more than enough to meet my needs.

Most of all, I am blessed to have a saving relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Perhaps that’s why I love Paul’s words to Titus today, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for humankind appeared, he saved us  —not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy  — through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.” (Titus‬ ‭3‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭CSB‬‬) I still remember exactly where I was when Jesus Christ first revealed Himself to me. I was walking from my dorm room to the student center up at the University of Colorado in Boulder. I had been at a Bible study the night before and the young men there talked about Jesus like He was real. Like He was still alive. After a lot of reflection, I realized I believed that as well and it stopped me in my tracks. I knew in that moment that everything in my life needed to change. I have never forgotten the kindness of God in reaching a poor, lost college student who was headed down the road of alcoholism and failure. God saved me, not because I was worthy or had done anything to deserve it, but because He was merciful. He washed me and regenerated me and renewed my soul through the Holy Spirit. And He gave me the gift of eternal life. I am who I am today because God is who He is…a merciful, kind, loving, faithful Savior.

What are you thankful for? When was the last time you counted all the blessings in your life? As you gather with friends and family this Thanksgiving, take a moment and go around the table to offer thanks for all God has given you. I imagine it will lead to wonderful conversation and great joy. Happy Thanksgiving!

Readings for tomorrow: Philemon 1, Psalms 24