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FIRST FRUITS OR AFTER THOUGHTS

By Pastor Steve

Photo by Jonas Kakaroto on Unsplash

ARE YOU BRINGING FIRST FRUITS OR AFTER THOUGHTS?

These were the words that I saw in an email the other day, and it was very

challenging to me to think about. The things that I bring to the LORD should be an

act of worship, nurturing and witnessing. In the devotional by Kenneth Boa,

Handbook to Renewal: Renewing Your Mind with Affirmations from Scripture, he

states “I will honor the Lord with my wealth and with the first fruits of all my

increase. Proverbs 3:9

I would like to challenge each of us. The Lord through His death and resurrection

has given all of us who believe in Him, faith. Do we honor Him with the first

fruits of our faith, or do we just give Him the after thoughts (or leftovers) of our

faith? What do I mean by that? Faith is not only a belief system, (I believe in Jesus

and that is enough.) Friend, faith is also an action word, and the Lord asks for

action from us.

I like what EDMUND P. CLOWNEY says in his book CONTOURS of

CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY “The Lord does not ask for references commending us

for his service. He calls us—not because he needs us, but because we need him. Yet

we cannot know him without also serving him. The church is called to serve God in

three ways: to serve him directly in worship; to serve the saints in nurture; and to

serve the world in witness.”

James 2:14-20 tells us that if we have faith and don’t use it to do good deeds

(worship, nurture and witness) our faith is dead.

By: Pastor Steve Eicher

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