Scripture Reading(s)
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
26:1 When you have come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it,
26:2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.
26:3 You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us.”
26:4 When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the LORD your God,
26:5 you shall make this response before the LORD your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.
26:6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us,
26:7 we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
26:8 The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders;
26:9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
26:10 So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O LORD, have given me.” You shall set it down before the LORD your God and bow down before the LORD your God.
26:11 Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house.
Reflections
The story of Israel’s journey and arrival to the promised land is one of true hope. Despite the many trials and struggles that the nation faced, God still remained faithful. This is a story of God’s promises being sure and true. He promised that He would bring them to this land and that is exactly what He did. Now as they were gearing up to settle in the land, the response was to be one of obedience to His commands and praise for what He has done for them.
One thing we can learn from their journey is that it was not given to them because of their actions and anything they did to earn it. God blessed them because He is a loving and gracious God and there were many moments in which they had fallen into sin and did not deserve this blessing to become a reality. God’s Grace is not dependent on then many times we choose to obey Him, it comes with a heart that is unconditionally filled with love towards His people.
Think about all the times in your life in which you had doubted God’s goodness and decided to take matters into your own hands. Or perhaps there were moments in which you saw God’s hand at work in our life and possibly failed to praise and thank Him. The whole point of this story and your life story is that God is the main character and is at the center of guiding each event that takes place in our life. He closes doors when its not right and opens them when He knows we are ready. His timing and plan of action is always on point and He is lovingly teaching us to rely on His strength alone.
When you look back at your own life and the history of Israel, you will find that you are able to trace God’s fingerprint throughout each event that has taken place and you will see that it was God who has brought you to where you are now and will surely continue to lead you through.
So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O LORD, have given me.” You shall set it down before the LORD your God and bow down before the LORD your God.
Some don’t understand what tithing is. However, tithing is a very simple concept. We give a portion back to God because He first gave to us. We are telling the Lord that we are thankful for Him providing for us and we demonstrate that by giving back. This was the simple requests of the Lord when we delivered His people and took them to the promised land.
Today we are under a new covenant. I would even go as far to say that tithing is dead. However, I do not think that the principle has changed. While we are not required to give as the Israelites were commanded, we are still expected to give a portion that is within our means as an act of thanks to the Lord for providing for us. Tithing or giving an offering is also about supporting the body of Christ but even more than that, it is a measure of where our heart is at.
Do we trust the Lord enough to give back a portion?
[Featured image from www.keyword-suggestions.com/]