When the wall was finished and the covenant with Israel reestablished, one of the things the Israelites needed to begin doing again was bringing their first fruits to God. That meant that they didn't bring the leftover offers that we available at the end of consuming whatever they desired. Instead, they brought their first and best to God in thanks for His generosity to them. In our culture with love of consumption and our dependency on dept, we've lost the idea of first fruits because usually we don't even have enough for us. The problem with such an attitude, though, is that we begin to believe that what we have is ours because we've worked really hard for it, and we forget about God's generosity to us and His gifting us with the ability to work in the first place! When we give our first fruits to God, it places Him in the proper perspective for us, and it helps us to be grateful for all that we have. How are your first fruits? Are you giving them generously to God? If not, what needs to change so you can?
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