Good morning. My thought for this day of worship is to consider a concept that is frequently spoken of, and equally honored, in both the Old and New Testaments. It is the concept of “firstfruits.” In both Hebrew and Greek, firstfruits is a single word, so I will write it that way in English as well. You will note that I am including many scripture references to help guide our thoughts in this important subject.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. James 1:17-18
Honoring God with the firstfruits has always been important to God. He commanded Israel to consecrate to him all the first born of man and beast(Exodus 13:2). We also read in the Old Testament about several feasts that God commanded His people to observe. One of those feasts was the Feast of Harvest. It was also known as the Feast of Weeks and the Day of Firstfruits (Exodus 34:22). Later, the early church referred to it as Pentecost because it occurred fifty days after Passover. During this feast Israel was to offer the firstfruits of their harvest as a free will offering to the Lord (Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10).
The nature of the commands requiring firstfruits to be offered to God was to reinforce the truth that God is to be remembered first, honored first, above all else. He is worthy of our first thought, our first response, the first of every worthy thing that makes up our lives.
God is worthy of the firstfruits of our worship. This means that we are never to “settle” with what we offer to God in worship. Our worship is to be our best effort, our first desire, our first concern, #1 in our hearts as we come to Him. It is never appropriate to “honor” God with what is less than our best. This requires the fullness of our heart, soul, and mind being focused on Him.
In writing to the Corinthian and Roman churches, the apostle Paul referred to the early converts as “firstfruits” (1 Corinthians 16:15; Romans 16:5). Once a person allows the redeeming work of the blood of Jesus to take effect in their life, they become a firstfruit of Christ’s labor. The idea is the same as that of the Old Testament feasts, offerings, and sacrifices. Bring to God the first of the harvest, the best of your effort, the finest of all you could give.
Notice that James said, “Of his own will he brought us forth.” Our salvation, our becoming worthy of being considered as representative of “firstfruit” is an act of God.
All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Since sin leads to death (Romans 6:23) we were all dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:5). The dead do not have a will; therefore, had God not willed to bring us to Himself, to purchase our souls, we would be left for dead. The process of becoming a firstfruit of God is to acknowledge Jesus’ work on the cross for the forgiveness of sin (Acts 10:43), and to consent to his Lordship and allow him to take possession of our lives (Romans 10:9-10; 1 Peter 2:9). Through the grace of God poured out to us in the blood of Christ we who were worthy only of death have been granted eternal life, and not only that…by God’s own will and action we are deemed worthy of being recognized as firstfruits as we come to our Father God.
To give to our God the firstfruits of our lives is a matter of honesty, honor, and integrity. He is worthy, of that there is no argument. What is truly amazing is that through the saving grace of Jesus we too are worthy to be presented to God as firstfruits of His labor.
Worship well today. Present to God the firstfruits of your heart, soul, and mind!
Vern