A Willing Christian Servant

I was at my Bible study group the other night as we were discussing the often misunderstood, and difficult subject of ‘First Fruit”  (which I have discussed on several previous blogs ) when a point was raised about giving first fruits even if you don’t want to, but doing it only because it is what is expected.  I have been thinking about that point and the impact of being a servant but not a willing servant, and the struggle each of us (okay maybe it is just me) has with being a willing servant.

Let’s face it; we all like to use our time and money our way.  It’s ‘our time’, ‘our money’ and when you are used to calling your time and money your own, it is extremely difficult to give up that control.  For the purpose of this blog, I am going to address only the time issue, because time is our most precious commodity, the one thing that we value over even perhaps money.  I’ve been learning to allow God to use my time for His glory and honor, but, like many of you,  I continue to struggle with my will for my time.

Even when it finally occurred to me that God was prompting me to give Him more of my time; I still attempted to fit my desires into ‘my’ schedule before His.  Slowly however, day by day it became increasingly difficult to fit everything I wanted to do and everything He wanted me to do into one day.  One day, push came to shove, and you do not want to get into a pushing match with God, I resigned myself to choosing His best plan over my not so great plan.  At first I felt conflicted over not accomplishing all that was on my “to do” list, there was so much ‘I’ wanted to do, so much ‘I’ needed to do,  that I didn’t have time for .

I wanted to please Him, but I also wanted to please myself.  The fleshly desire for “my way” was strong.  My problem was that I was more worried about accomplishing my will than His.  It took a while, but eventually He convicted me of the fact that if your heart isn’t in it, then it is merely lip service.  

So where am I at now?  I wish I could say that I now embrace each day as He planned it, but that would be a lie.  Wholeheartedness comes and goes.  No one is perfect in obedience or submission.  I still struggle, but I am further down the road then I was yesterday, and have faith that I will be even further tomorrow. 

If you have ever looked at Strong’s Concordance you might have discovered that the word “control” is not listed.  Apparently, there is not one single verse where God  tells us that He is in control or that He demands control over us.  But it is so much easier to blame God when our personal perspective is the concept of “He’s controlling”? 

God wants us to willingly obey and submit to His will, but he will not force us to.  We do have a choice in the matter.  Thankfully, as any loving father would, disobedience always seems to bring correction. 

“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."  It is for discipline that you have to endure.  God is treating you as sons.  For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them.  Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. “ Hebrews 12:6-10

However, if we have accepted Him as our Savior and Lord over our life, why are we so unwilling to obey and submit to Him?  It seems a paradox until we remember that all of us fight our sin nature constantly.  We feel the unrelenting pull of pleasing ourselves, and must strive to conquer our will.  I however take heart in knowing that Paul also struggled with the battle over the flesh.  He writes in Romans 7:15-24

“For I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.  For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,  but I see in my members  another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.  Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Here is a final comment from Apostle Peter:

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.  1 Peter 5:2-3

The key word is “willingly”.

 

Grateful Christian - First Fruits (part 3 of 3)

“Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce.” Proverbs 3:9

Understand that First Fruits have nothing to do with you being blessed, rather it is about faith.  God has blessed each of us with a unique talent, some of us with money, not so that we may have an easy life, a normal life, a life surrounded by mirrors, but rather so that we may be the first fruit and use His gifts to us so that we can help bring along the Second  Fruits.  To do that we must be willing to obey God completely (even if it means we must keep a promise we do not want to, or sacrifice something we desire, or think we deserve).  When we exercise our ‘God given right’ of following our own will over His, and hold on to all of the fruits He has blessed us with, we serve as a witness to the world that we neither recognize nor trust that He will provide for our needs in the future.

Are there any ways in which you might be taking back God's first fruits?  It is a simple question, with a simple method of examining your answer.  Look back on the last 3 months of your life, or even just the last month; how did you spent your time, how did you spent your money, what you did or did not say,  what you did or did not read or watch.  Whom you did or did not help.  

You are not commanded to give First Fruits, so when you sold all of your stuff that you no longer needed or wanted, on eBay, Craigslist or at a yard sale, it was not a sin, when you decided to sleep an extra half hour instead of actually reading the bible, when you decided to watch television instead of speeding a little more time in prayer, or when you decided to not volunteer to use your skills to help the church, these are not sins; but they do reveal a desire to look at mirrors instead of through windows.  

If asked, what would those who know you, say if they were asked if you gave away your First Fruits?  If it isn’t the same answer as yours then perhaps it is time you applied your knowledge and grew in wisdom. 

Because while knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to serve it in a fruit salad.  And with Wisdom you get closer to knowing 'what is Christianity'.

 

Grateful Christian - First Fruits (part 2 of 3)

What is Christianity and why are first fruits important?   

How does the practice of ‘First-Fruits effect our relationship with God?  Perhaps because as Harry Emerson Fosduke expanded upon the quote from yesterday. 

“"A person completely wrapped up in himself makes a small package.  The great day comes when a man begins to get himself off his hands.  He has lived, let us say, like a man who has lived in a room that is surrounded by mirrors.  Every way he turns, he sees himself.  Now, however, some of the mirrors change to windows.  He can see through them to objective outlooks that challenge his interest.  He begins to get out of himself, no longer the prisoner of self-reflections.  But a man in a world where persons, causes, truths, and values exist worthwhile for their own sakes, thus to pass from a mirror mind to a mind with windows, is an essential element in the development of a real personality.  Without that experience no one ever achieves a meaningful life."

First Fruits not only illustrates our desire to look beyond the mirrors that makes us a small package, and give to God from a grateful heart but they are the cornerstones of living a lifestyle  that gives back to Him the first and best of what He has given us. 

First Fruits are just that, by implication ‘First’ means there is more to follow.  However, if one is more concerned about the mirrors instead of the windows and is unwilling to give their first-fruit to God, then what is the likelihood that they will follow His further instruction by continuing to read in Leviticus 23

"And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.  You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.”  Leviticus 23:22  God told His people that when you harvest your crops, do not attempt to get every kernel from every single stalk.  Essentially that's what a diligent farmer would do.  He would try to get everything he can because his livelihood and his family's would depend upon it.  Nevertheless, God says no, you will leave some of it there.  That is not being irresponsible; it is not wasting.  He said deliberately leave some of it behind.  Leave some of the grain standing in the field, for the poor and the needy, the less fortunate, could come and take what they needed.  With what He has generously given you, you could with a grateful heart help others.

First Fruits changes your mirrors into windows. 

 To be continued... 

 

Grateful Christian- First Fruits (part 1 of 3)

"A person completely wrapped up in himself makes a small package.”  Harry Emerson Fosduke

Even if you do not share my joy of gardening, you can understand that when we plant a garden, we are always anxious for the first things to become ripe, to harvest the first things out of the garden.  That's exciting!  However, we would be very frustrated and unhappy if that's all that ever happened, if everything else just dried up and blew away.


God is excited about First Fruits as well, so giving First Fruits can be likened to picking the very first ripe, red, juicy, Beefsteak tomato of the season off your vine and offering it at the altar to the God who brought it forth from seed.  Doing so with thanks for all the harvests of the past and with faith that before the season is over, your vine will yield an abundant crop.

Perhaps a better way to convey the idea of first fruits to those of you who are not a gardener would be in this manner.  Suppose that you are a author, who has just had a new book published, or an artist who has just sold your first print in a new series of watercolors, or perhaps a mechanic who  has always worked on Ford's but has recently learned how to fix BMW's; or even a stay at home dad who has decided to open a small child care at his home.   First fruit would giving of the first royalty check for the book or painting for the author or artist, the payment that the mechanic collects for fixing her first BMW, or the first payment  the dad collects for the first child at his new childcare business.  

However, before we go any further, let’s identify why God said, “THE FIRST FRUITS ARE MINE.”   The story is one of the most exciting in the Bible – in Exodus: The Israelites are leaving Egypt after 430 years of slavery.  God has rescued His ‘First Fruit of the nations’ and is preparing to kill all the first born of Egypt -  the last of the ten plagues - because Pharaoh would not let them go!  God then commands the entire nation of Israel to honor God by bringing the first crops of their harvest to the house of the Lord.  The people were forbidden to use any part of the harvest until the first fruits were offered to the Lord.  To neglect these first fruits offerings was considered robbery of God (Malachi 3:8). 


Giving of the first fruits was an act of allegiance and gratitude to God as source of all of their provisions. However, too many of us only look at the blessing, but like every coin has two sides, do not forget that there is also a chilling truth right here: the Egyptians would not GIVE, so God TOOK!   First Fruits are a reminder that God brought you out of death with great power and sacrifice, but also a warning to those who chose their own way over God’s. 

The Feast of First Fruits marked the beginning of the grain harvests in Israel.  Barley was the first grain to ripen of those sown in the winter months.  Scripture specifies the Feast of First Fruits as Sunday "on the day after the Sabbath.” (Leviticus 23:9-11).  Each spring, Israel celebrated Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits at the same gathering.  The following details will become highly significant in the following paragraph: On the 14th day of the 1st month, the Passover lambs were killed at 3:00 p.m. and prepared for eating.  At 6:00 p.m., the Passover began and lasted until the following sundown.  At 6:00 p.m. Saturday (the start of Sunday), the day of First Fruits began.  On Sunday morning, a sheaf or handful of early barley harvest was reverently cut and the barley removed, filling a bowl.  It was then taken to the Temple and waved before the Lord.

During the Holy Week, Jesus and the disciples gathered in Jerusalem for Passover.  After the Passover meal was eaten, Jesus was arrested, crucified at noon on Friday, and entombed prior to 6:00 p.m., when the Sabbath began.  Jesus lay in the tomb Friday evening and Saturday and arose from the dead on Sunday, the very day of the Feast of the First Fruits.  Thus, Paul refers to Christ as the first fruits of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20).  In this reversal, God has given us God’s first fruits, God’s only begotten Son, that we may have eternal life.

First Fruits and understanding 'what is a Christian', begins with a Grateful and submissive heart.

To be continued….