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Weekly Bible Verse – Giving off the Top
Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase. Proverbs 3:9 (NKJV)
This week’s verse ventures into the realm of giving. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get into a discussion regarding how much of his/her income a Christian should be giving (not today at least). I do want to point out the importance of giving your best to the Lord, however.
As Christians, we are required to honor the Lord with the “firstfruits” of all our increase. “Firstfruits” seems like an interesting word, so let’s take a look at it. According to NETBible.org, “firstfruits” is defined as “first, beginning, best, chief.” Of course, you ask, “What in the world does that have to do with me? I’m not giving sheep or crops to God, I’m giving money. How do I determine which of my money counts as ‘firstfruits?’” Well, that’s a good question and I agree that it doesn’t have the same connotation as when this verse was originally written… but that doesn’t mean it’s not still relevant today.
I think that we are still required to give God our “first” and “best.” To me, giving our first simply means giving to God first; it means giving to God off the top of our stack of money. In other words, don’t give God what is left over (if anything) at the end of the month (”sorry God, that was an expensive trip to Wal-Mart last week so I don’t have anything left for you this month” – read that sentence out loud and listen to how it completely trivializes God). Instead, give to God first. Practically, you decide how much money you are going to give to God beforehand and then you make sure that happens. You give it before you pay any bills, or invest, or go to the movies, or buy gifts, or anything else! If you can’t afford to do everything you want to do in a certain month, you absolutely ensure that your giving is not what falls below the line and doesn’t get accomplished.
Some people might say, “I can’t afford to give money to God.” I’d counter that you probably can’t afford not to give to God. Remember last week’s verse – the one about God supplying your needs? Let’s get real here – are you putting your trust in God (omnipotent creator of the universe) or the money you have in your pocket? Don’t fret about being able to afford giving to God, go ahead and give your best to God (time, money, effort, etc) and God will meet your needs.
God bless and have a great week…
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3 Responses to “Weekly Bible Verse – Giving off the Top”
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John, another excellent post. In my experience, giving is a matter of trust. Do we trust God (and His way of managing money), or not. If we are new to Kingdom money management, it is helpful to find a mentor who has been giving for a long while and “lean on” their experience/trust/faith in the beginning of our own adventure. They also will be a great intercessor! As God blesses our obedience in ways that are meaningful to us, it becomes easier to trust Him with the next step. Thanks for the post!
uh ohhh. Your tackling a subject that most people won’t touch! Kind of like talking about sex, money and politics at the kitchen table! Your example of someone going to Wal Mart and than God sorry is so true. We often say we don’t have enough to give but we have to examine what we did with what we go in the first place! This reminds of the Malachi 1 when God was displeased with the fact that the people were bringing in lame offerings instead of bringing in their best! Their first fruits! Great post!
@Carlos – I agree that not many people like to talk about the importance of giving even within the church. My guess is that it’s a backlash to the old-time televangelists who spent a lot of time asking for money and then not much time spending it all on themselves! I recently read The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn and that inspired me to re-think about the importance of giving – not the importance to God (He doesn’t need your money) but the internal importance.
@Grant – I absolutely agree with you that giving is all about trusting God to provide for us; and great suggestion to find a “giving mentor.”