First Fruits

Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Proverbs 3:9-10 KJV

Honour the Lord with thy substance, and give him of the first of all thy fruits; And thy barns shall be filled with abundance, and thy presses shall run over with wine. Proverbs 3:9-10 Douay Rheims 

The Lord talks about giving throughout the Holy Bible. The world was lawless (Genesis), under the Law (Exodus to Malachi) as the tithe and other giving, and the law was fulfilled (Jesus), where we are to give freely to those in need. Jesus tells a parable about a woman who gave little wealth or value in the two verses below:

• And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. Mark 12:41-44
• AND he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, Luke 21:1-5

I love this story because giving is genuinely subjective to each individual. Who do you think offers more? A person making $1 million a year and giving $100K, which is 10%, or a person making $10,000 giving $100 in the offering, which is 1%. It depends per this parable. Jesus talks about this woman giving everything she has while the rich give out of their abundance. The Holy Bible makes me laugh because it provides more context when you read Mark's and Luke's versions. While Jesus is speaking a parable about an impoverished woman, a few people in the temple talk about how the temple had all these extravagant stones.  The other piece is of Jesus sitting where people gave to the temple. Coincidence! 

I could write a book about giving and what it means. The point is to give to the Lord, who will provide daily for our needs. We don't know what each other is going through, and maybe $1 offers more than $1 million when it comes to abundance in a person's life.