Daily Feast Devotional from JesusWired.com
Honor The Lord With Your Wealth
by David C. Coleman – November 9, 2009
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9-10)
Sacrifice is pleasing to the Lord and, throughout Scripture, God has always asked for our first…and for our best. So often, we resort to giving Him our leftovers. Instead of cutting our tithe off the top after receiving our paycheck, we give what’s left after paying our bills and allocating for our needs and wants. Regarding prayer or devotional time, we often resort to praying/reading at the end of the day if we happen to get around to it. In many areas of our lives we seem to be comfortable treating God as an afterthought. Yet we continue to expect abundant blessings in return. This certainly is not honoring to God.
As Christians, our Sabbath is Sunday – the first day of the week. Choosing Sunday for worship is a symbolic gesture indicating we are sacrificing the first day of each week unto the Lord. This is a prime example of offering our firstfruits. In Malachi 3:10, the Lord actually gives us permission to test Him regarding the law of firstfruits. “Test me,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” So shall we not apply this rule to all areas of our lives? Proverbs 3:10 refers to “new wine”, a term which symbolically represents a spiritual renewal brought about by the Holy Spirit. By understanding this concept, it becomes evident that God not only offers a return on material sacrifice, but also promises a spiritual renewal as part of the sacrificial process. If we bless God with the first moments of each day through prayer and devotion, will He not spiritually enrich us accordingly? If we bless God with the first day of each week in service, will He not bless our effort abundantly? And as we bless God through our tithes and offerings, will He not bless our sacrifice tenfold? When we learn to place the Lord first and trust in His promises, we can rest assured knowing we will never be left wanting.
Dear Lord, I come before You humbly with a spirit of thanksgiving. Teach me, O Lord, to be more sacrificial with the firstfruits from all areas of my life. Give me the strength and the courage to make my life a living sacrifice. My desire is to place You first in all things. In doing so, I am admitting You are the center of my life and the source of all good things. I realize that spiritual and material abundance only come through You. I pray that as I continue to grow in the understanding of the law of firstfruits, I will continue to become a greater blessing to others. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.
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