Morning Message Text: Deuteronomy 26: 1-11
1 When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it,
2 take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name
3 and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us.”
4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God.
5 Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.
6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor.
7 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our ancestors, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.
8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders.
9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;
10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, LORD, have given me.” Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him.
11 Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
Morning Message:
I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, to give you a future with hope. Jeremiah 29: 11. There are different ways that we can hear that scripture and apply it to our lives. Many take this verse to mean that God’s plan for each life is set in stone and we have no choice or say in how our lives turn out. If you belong to God through salvation in Jesus, God does have a perfect plan for your life; He knows what the end result will be, and if God has a purpose for us, we will fulfill that purpose one way or another. We do have free will, and our choices in life are not made for us. We can get to the right place in life in several different ways. We can get there God’s way or our way; the easier way or the harder one, I like to say; the right way or sideways. Frank Sinatra sang, I Did It My Way. I think God hears that and laughs, knowing that what he saw looked sideways. Every family has received a devotional to help with your Lenten journey; I will be focusing on some of what’s in that devotional throughout this season. Listen to some of these ideas. Actions that lead to overwork, exhaustion, and burnout can’t praise and glorify God. What God calls us to do we can do and do well. It is possible to be working too hard for God. Now I need to be very careful here because this is not the norm. Most of us can never be accused of doing way too much for God’s kingdom. The point is, when we are working within the will of God, it should feel easy and satisfying. I am not saying that it is easy, but if we feel miserable doing God’s will, then we are not doing it right. These few lines in our devotional tell us what we should do and how it should feel. “When we listen in silence to God’s voice and speak with our friends in trust, we will know what we are called to do and we will do it with a grateful heart.” I told you last week that it is time for us to let our light shine for the world to see. The world does not need to see a cranky, unsatisfied Christian. We need to spend more time in silence, listening to God, and we need to have Christian friends. Sometimes God speaks to us through our friends so that we can hear his message in a human voice. Who are you spending time with?
Most of you know that I don’t preach giving and tithing on a regular basis. Actually, I hardly preach those things at all. I believe that what you give is between you and God, and I know that your giving is directly connected to your growth and maturity in your faith. Giving comes from your heart, and only God can change that. This teaching on first fruits goes way beyond giving. When I read this, I hear God giving very clear, precise instructions to the people. It seems very repetitive, and to us it can even sound a little boring. I want you to see the wisdom in how God is systematically connecting what they are giving to what he has done in their lives. How many of you have taken the time and effort to try and grow a garden? Gardening is a lot of work and if you are not used to it there can be some pain involved. Blisters, back aches, sunburn. When you start a new garden, you have to separate all the grass from the soil, spade up the soil, and fertilize. All of that preparation before you can even think about putting a plant or a seed in the ground. Once you finally plant then you have to protect. You have to keep the rabbits and all the other critters from eating and destroying things before they have a chance to grow. Then you find that the weeds grow faster than the plants, so you spend hours weeding so that the weeds don’t take all the life out of the soil. Finally, after what seems like forever, you have the fruit of your labor. So you wait for things to ripen. I used to love the cherry tomatoes. My granddaughter, when she was very little, loved them as well. She would eat them right off the plants, so fresh and good. The first fruits are always the best and they are long awaited. God says, that’s what I want from you. The saying is: Give God what is right, not what is left.
As humans we always ask why. It’s a natural, almost involuntary reaction to question the way things are, and we hate to be told that this is the way it must be. Listen to how God does this so that you can use it in your own life. God doesn’t just make demands of us; he teaches us through what he asks. Take that fruit of your labor that you have worked so hard for, put it in a basket, take it where I tell you, and say to the priest. Remember and recite everything that God has done in your life. My family was wondering Arameans, and God saved them and gave them a home. God grew us into a great nation in Egypt. We were mistreated and abused, we cried out to the Lord, and he saved us, He brought us out of Egypt and into this beautiful land. The Lord has given us everything, without God I would be lost. I would have nothing; we would have died in the desert. Now, after remembering and recalling everything that God has done in your life, how important is that fruit that you hold onto so tightly. We look at things backwards. We think to ourselves, if I give what I have to the Lord how shall I replace it; I will not have enough. Read this scripture and listen to God’s wisdom. If not for God, you would not even be here, and it is God who provided your abundance in the first place. Can’t He, if we are faithful, provide again. This is not just about your possessions; it’s about your life. God has a plan and a purpose for each of us. How will we fulfill our purpose? Our way, begrudgingly, kicking and screaming, trying to hold onto everything, or God’s way, allowing him to mold and shape us into his plans?
In Christ’s Love and Peace
Pastor Bob
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