We First Give God

"Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." Proverbs 3:9-10

You know what's coming when you see a message titled, "Giving to God First." The subject matter is made all the more clear when the synopsis of the message reads, "But in this lesson, [Pastor] will explain why some modern-day Christians would rather not talk about it at all as he explains the importance of putting God first with what we give." Yes, the message is about tithing. But, I don't want to talk about tithing as much as something else. I have a confession to make. God is not first in my life. I admit it. He is not. Let me explain what I mean by that. When I hear someone say God is first in their life, I automatically hear that there are things that are second, third, fourth, and so on in their life. God doesn't have a ranking in my life or rank highest in a list of priorities. To say so makes it seem like your "eating the frog" when it comes to God. In other words, you are getting the most difficult thing out the way first in order to move on with the rest of your day and life. For me, God is my life. As my friend said, "I don't make time for God. I take God into my time." The Apostle Paul, when speaking to the people in Athens, said, "For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring (Acts 17:28).'" Paul uses the language of the Greeks to convey a message about God that implies God is a living God who goes with us wherever we go. After all, if God lives inside each believer through faith in Jesus Christ and we are His temple, this makes perfect sense. When the pastor opened up his teaching on giving to God first, he used Proverbs 3:9-10. He emphasized the part about firstfruits equating it to the first ten percent (tithe) of your produce. It has been my experience that the focus on giving your "firstfruits," or tithes, has been twofold. First, there is this idea that you are giving to God "through" the church. Secondly, and most importantly, is the idea that people are giving in this manner because they believe God is going to bless them by throwing "open the floodgates of Heaven (Malachi 3:10)" and overwhelming them with blessings. My point is that there is this idea that a person must give to God first in order to be blessed because the person is not already blessed. It is a type of sacrifice performed for God in order to appease Him so He will give you something you don't possess.

What is the truth about God's blessings when it comes to being a Christian? "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3)..." Christians have been given every "spiritual blessing." That is important to understand. It says spiritual blessing and not physical blessing. If I took a poll of all those who gave to God first with their money, I wonder how many would say they did so in order to get physical blessings? Now, they may not state it that way, but that is what it basically is. Most of us do not have every physical blessing life has to offer. But, it is as if people are purchasing blessings from God like He is a heavenly Amazon store. It is sad to think that so many Christians who have been given everything, live as if they have nothing at all. They are looking to get from God, through their giving, that which He has not promised to give them and missing out entirely on what He has freely given to them as an inheritance of their faith in Jesus Christ. The question needs to be asked, "Do you want to pay God to bless your flesh or rest in the spiritual blessings you have already?" Jesus Christ said, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-20)." What is it we are trying to do when we are looking to have our flesh blessed by giving to God first if not to store up treasures on earth?  The treasures in heaven we are to store up are not the heavenly versions of physical blessings we can get here on earth. The spiritual blessings we have been given are found in having the desires of our heart for unconditional love, total acceptance, meaning, and purpose to life met by God through His indwelling Holy Spirit. We, in turn, do not give to God first in order to receive blessings of our flesh through acquiring treasures on earth. Rather, we now take God with us into the world as we look to give to it those things God has given to us and is producing through us. There is nothing to give to God first. But, we first give God to those who have nothing. This is the treasure we store up in heaven; those lost souls who have experienced the love of God He is producing through us and who have come to faith in Jesus Christ because of it.