Title

Sow the Best, Reap the Best

Scripture
The best of the first fruits...you shall give . . . to cause a blessing to rest on your house.
(Ezekiel 44:30)
Devotional
Proverbs likewise says, “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your increase.”(1) I trust that you tithe and give offerings. This is the elementary requirement of the believer. It is not complex nor is it difficult. It is simply right to do. As we give willingly, we will begin to prosper. As we prosper, we will experience increase in our lives. As we experience increase we are to in turn give the best of the first fruits to the Lord.
I promise that you will never regret giving to the Lord. Now if you give grudgingly or out of necessity, you are giving for the wrong reason and you may miss the blessing. However, if you give cheerfully and willingly, God will in turn cause a blessing to rest on your house.
It may sound hard to believe, but God says, “Try Me now in this,” and see “If I will not . . . pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”(2)

(1) Proverbs 3:9, (2) Malachi 3:10
Text For The Day
Ezekiel 44:30: “The best of all the firstfruits… you shall give… to cause a blessing to rest on your house.”
 
Thought For The Day
“Without love, almsgiving is no more important an action than brushing your hair or washing your hands, and the Pharisees had just as elaborate a ritual for those things as they had for alms, too, because all these things were prescribed by law, and had to be done so. But love does not give money, it gives itself. If it gives itself first and a lot of money too, that is all the better. But first it must sacrifice itself.” Thomas Merton, (1915–1968), Run to the Mountain.
Questions To Ponder
 
Morning Study Guide
Defining:  “Firstfruits,” not only the first portion, but the best portion. There is olive oil, virgin olive oil and extra-virgin olive oil, the last being the first squeeze of the fruit.
 
Referencing: “When you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Malachi 1:8
 
Applying: If you have not, take the challenge, “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse… and try Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it,’” Malachi 3:8.