Written by Dynamis Ministries | August 25, 2022
Things have a way of coming back around. For example, some ancient practices have resurfaced in mainline culture in recent years. Think about the paleo diet fad of trying to mimic the nutrition habits of our nomadic ancestors or consider the rise of classical education. There’s another ancient practice that while it hasn’t re-emerged as a modern-day trend, could be impactful if applied today. It’s the first fruit offering. This was a biblical practice in Old Testament times in which people would give a portion of their first harvest as an offering to the Lord. This practice may seem foreign to us because we no longer live in an agricultural society, but the power behind it can still be significant today.
The climax in agriculture is the harvest season when what has been grown is reaped. Some plants even produce multiple harvests. To the gardeners out there, consider tomatoes. You can pick tomatoes from the same plant several times throughout the season. A first fruit offering would be reserving a special percentage of that first harvest to God. For those who garden as a hobby, this may not sound like a big deal, but for people whose livelihood is farming it is a significant act of faith. When someone would give a first fruit offering, they would do so without knowing what the full harvest was going to be. Storms or drought could devastate a crop and severely diminish later harvests, thus making the value of the first that much more significant.
In this way first fruit offerings are slightly different than a tithe. A tithe is based directly on known income. In seasons of surplus a tithe increases while in seasons of scarcity it decreases. First fruits on the other hand are given before we know what our total income will be. A first fruit offering therefore was a significant act of faith to trust that God would provide for future needs. Consider this story as told by Dynamis Co-Executive Director Jason Nelson:
Some years ago, while on the staff of a church in Iowa, he shares how the leadership was called to be generous in the midst of a church building project. The decision was made to give away 20% of the total project cost to ministries worldwide. It was a big faith step in light of the estimated cost of the building at that time. And after making that decision, steel prices soared in the economy, and the project cost skyrocketed to $10.4M, bringing their generosity commitment to $2.5M! This money was paid out first from congregant pledges, and by faith, diligence and sacrifice the overall project was eventually paid off.
While it may not always be easy and could cost us more, making a first fruit offering can accomplish far more kingdom impact than we could ever imagine! How can each of us apply the first fruit offering practice to our lives today? Maybe it’s something as simple as giving a special offering at the beginning of each year. But it doesn’t have to come just from out finances too, it can even come from our time. We oftentimes make time commitments to serve the Lord after all other commitments have been accounted for. What if we commit time to the Lord first even without knowing how we will complete all that is needed in our busy schedules? In any of these ways and more, we are stepping out in faith through generosity while trusting that God will provide everything we need. We may not always know how God will provide, but we do know that God rewards those who act in faith.
Photo Credit: Ian Mustafa
