Proverbs 3:9 “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits

of all your crops.”

I heard this story today: A missionary serving in a small poor

village was approached by a fisherman and handed a fish. The

missionary asked 'what is this?” And the man responded that this was

his firstfruits, the first catch of the day, and that we was giving

this as an offering of the Lord. The missionary then asked, “were is

the rest of your catch?” To which the fisherman replied, “Oh, no I

haven't caught anything else yet.”

What would it look like if we gave to God with the same level of

confidence as this fisherman? Trusting wholeheartedly that God would

provide the rest of the catch for that day?

About a month ago I joined a men's fitness group that meets at

5:30am. I'll be honest, I hate the morning. But I have never

regretted a single morning of getting out with these men for exercise,

time of fellowship and faithful discussions. As an avid athlete, I

love running, but there are plenty of times that I just don't want to

go running. However, I have never gotten a mile into a run and

regretted being out there. As a pastor, I love reading scripture with

people, but there are plenty of times that I just don't want to spend

the 45 minutes for Bible study. However, afterwards I have never

thought I regret spending the time strengthening myself spiritually

and connecting with others. I have never skipped an episode of my

favorite show–like Survivor–to spend time with my kids and my wife

and regretted that decision.

Conversely, there have been many evenings that I have watched a show

on A&E like PawnStars where afterwards, I think I wish I could have

that hour back. There have been many late evenings out, and college

(and post-college) experiences, where I woke up the next morning

wondering why I just wasted my time and my body–needing a day to

recover.

As we enter into the New Year, what would it mean to present the Lord

with your wealth and your firstfruits? What's holding you back?

Trust Him, if you honor him with your energy, your time, your

resources on the front end, you won't regret it.