Firstfruits

In ancient Israel, harvest was a time of joy and of anxiety. A farmer waited all year for the crops to ripen. Would there be enough? Would the rains come? Would locusts arrive? When the first sheaves of barley were finally cut, the temptation was to keep them all, just in case.

God told His people to do the opposite. The very first of the harvest, the firstfruits, were to be brought to Him before anything else was eaten.

“Honor the LORD with what you own, with the first and best of everything your land produces; then there will be more than enough to fill your barns, and new wine will burst out of your vats.” (Proverbs 3:9-10)

The first and the best. Not the leftovers. Not what’s left at the end of the month. The first.

Why first?

Giving first is an act of faith. When you give from the first of your income, before you know whether the rest will stretch far enough, you are saying, “God, I trust You to provide for the rest.” When you give from the leftovers, you are saying, in effect, “I’ll trust myself first, and give You what I don’t need.”

Giving first is also an act of worship. It declares that God comes first in your life, not just in your words but in your bank account. It puts Matthew 6:33 into practice: “seek the kingdom” first.

And giving first is wise. If you wait until the end of the month to see what’s left, you will almost always find there’s nothing. Spending expands to fill whatever is available. If you decide your giving first, it happens.

The tithe

The Old Testament gave a specific measure for this firstfruits giving: the tithe, which means a tenth. Abraham gave a tenth to the priest Melchizedek. Jacob promised God a tenth of all he received. The law of Moses required Israel to bring a tenth of their crops and flocks:

“Year after year, be sure to set aside a tithe of all the crops that grow from the seed you sow in the field.” (Deuteronomy 14:22)

Notice the purpose, which comes in the next verse: “In this way you will learn to fear the LORD your God at all times” (Deuteronomy 14:23). The tithe was a way of training the heart to put God first.

Centuries later, when Israel had grown slack, the prophet Malachi brought God’s challenge:

“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there will be food in My house. Put Me to the test in this, says the LORD of Armies, and see if I do not open the windows of heaven for you and pour out on you a blessing until you have more than enough.” (Malachi 3:10)

It’s the only place in the Bible where God invites His people to test Him. He had just accused them of robbing Him: “Will a mortal rob God? But you are robbing Me. Yet you ask, ‘In what way do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8).

Do Christians have to tithe?

This is a question on which faithful Christians disagree. Some believe the tithe is still the standard for believers today. Others note that the New Testament never commands it directly. Jesus mentions it once, approving it in passing while rebuking the Pharisees for neglecting justice and mercy. The New Testament’s teaching on giving focuses instead on generosity, proportion, cheerfulness and the example of Christ.

This book takes the view that the tithe is a wonderful starting line but not a ceiling. Here’s why. If Israel, under the old covenant, was asked to give a tenth, it is hard to imagine that Christians, who have received so much more in Christ, should be content to give less. And the New Testament pattern seems to push us beyond a tenth rather than below it: the Macedonians gave “more than they could,” Zacchaeus gave half, the widow gave everything.

So if you have never given a tenth, it is a good goal to work toward. If you already give a tenth, don’t stop there. Ask God whether He wants you to grow in giving as He grows your income.

What matters most is not the exact percentage. It is the heart: giving first, giving regularly, giving cheerfully, and giving in proportion to what God has given you.

Proportional giving

That last idea, proportion, comes straight from Paul. When he organised the collection for Jerusalem, he told the Corinthians: “On the first day of each week, every one of you should put something aside at home, saving as much as you have gained” (1 Corinthians 16:2). Each person should give in proportion to how they have been prospered.

That means a student with a part-time job and a business owner with a large income are not expected to give the same amount. But both are expected to give, and both are expected to give in proportion. As Paul says elsewhere, “a gift is welcomed for what the giver has, not judged by what the giver lacks” (2 Corinthians 8:12).

What about the promise?

Proverbs 3 and Malachi 3 both promise blessing to those who give. Does that mean God will always pay you back in money?

Be careful here. These promises are real. God does bless generosity, and many Christians can tell stories of His provision after they began to give. But the Old Testament promises to Israel were often tied to their life in the land, and the blessing God gives His people is not always financial. Jesus was the most generous person who ever lived, and He died owning only the clothes He wore.

The right way to hold these promises is this: give because you love God and trust Him, not as an investment scheme. God will make sure you never lose by being generous, but He will decide how He repays you, whether in this life or the next.

Starting

If you have never given regularly, or have only given what’s left over, here’s a simple way to begin.

Decide a percentage. Pray about it. If a tenth seems impossible right now, choose a percentage you can manage, and plan to increase it by one percent every year.

Give it first. Set it up to happen as soon as you are paid. Treat it as the first line in your budget.

Give it to your church first. Most Christians believe that our regular giving should begin with the local church where we are fed, taught and cared for. “Those who are being taught the word must share all their good things with the one who teaches them” (Galatians 6:6).

Watch what happens. Not to see if you get rich, but to see how God provides and how your heart changes.

A voice from the past

George Müller, who gave away almost everything he received, gave this simple advice to Christians who wanted to begin:

“Only fix even the smallest amount you purpose to give of your income, and give this regularly; and as God is pleased to increase your light and grace, and is pleased to prosper you more, so give more.”

George Müller, quoted in George Müller of Bristol

And F. B. Meyer saw that giving a fixed proportion protects the heart:

“In order to guard against the love of money, we should be careful to give a stated proportion to the cause of Christ.”

F. B. Meyer, Our Daily Walk

Practice this week

Decide what percentage of your income you will give to God, starting with your next pay. Set it up so it happens first. If you already give, pray about whether God is asking you to take a step up.

For groups

• What is the difference between giving firstfruits and giving leftovers? Which have you mostly done?
• Do you think Christians are required to tithe? Why or why not?
• Read 1 Corinthians 16:2. What does “in proportion” mean in your situation?
• How would you answer someone who says, “I can’t afford to give”?