Reading… and Thinking

Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, “I declare this day to the LORD my God that I have entered the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us…. Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O LORD have given me.” And you shall set it down before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God.

— Deuteronomy 26:1-3,10 (NASB)

From one viewpoint, it looks like this: “The Lord has given me this land. Everything is His. I don’t deserve any of what He has given me. It is just a small thanksgiving, but I’m glad to give Him the very first of what this land has produced. Without His blessing I would have nothing.”

From another viewpoint, it’s like this: “Maybe He ‘gave’ me the land, but I had to conquer it. I had to do the grisly business of exterminating the previous owners. I had to plow it, and plant it, and reap it. So what do I owe to Him?”

By asking for the first-fruits, God created a situation that would make a distinction between the people who have these viewpoints. He would know how each one reacted.

This was to be the case not only for the very first crop, which Moses is talking about here, but the first of every crop was to go to God. And that’s not all: God asked for the first born of all the livestock. And that’s not all: God asked for a tenth of everything—and not just any tenth, the best was to be given to God.

Some people would be outraged by this. Maybe a lot of them. After all, it’s theirs! They worked for it! But some others would be glad to give. Why? Because it all came from God in the first place. The first-fruits and the tithe are just small tokens acknowledging where it all comes from. And He can give as much again—there is no limit to how much He can give.

God was separating out those few who put Him first, who give Him their first and their best. Those who think of themselves first, well, they already have their reward.

Now we aren’t under the law any more. But the law was a teacher, so what can we learn? Surely that the first and best of our time, and of all our resources, should be dedicated to God. We will likely have those selfish feelings that rebel against this thought. But we can overcome those feelings. After all, what are we here for? It isn’t to accumulate stuff. It isn’t to be entertained. It’s to serve.

God is still asking for the first and the best, and He is still making a distinction.