Daily Reading: Proverbs 3:9–10
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops. (Prov. 3:9)
On my grandparents’ farm, I learned to love the first corn of the summer. My grandfather kept a close eye on his rows of corn because he knew how good the first ripe ones tasted. Once he had gathered a bushel basket full, he would sit in the barnyard on the block that he used to split wood on and husk the corn for our noon meal. These early ears had greener, moister husks than later corn, which had to endure hotter days, so it didn’t take as long to peel away the layers. Neither were there any ugly corn borers yet to make holes in the corn and scare us grandkids. When Grandpa got down to the sticky corn silk, my cousins and I would crowd around to see the small yellow kernels, our mouths watering for that first sweet bite.
Do you watch over your wealth as my grandfather did his corn crop, so he could present his family with the very best, the firstfruits? As the summer wears on, the natural forces of sun and greedy corn borers begin to cause damage to the crop, making it much less satisfying. In the same way, if we keep waiting before we give our offering to the Lord, time and our own greediness will eat holes in our wealth, leaving only dried husks for God.
Your job is a gift from the Lord; honor Him by giving back its first fruits.
Kathy O’Neill and her husband live in Oklahoma City, where she loves teaching about Jesus with illustrations.
