Firstfruits for Life
A drive through the countryside shows that this year’s long harvest season is finally drawing to a close. After a very wet October and long backups at the grain elevators in November, the crops are finally in.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that our annual Thanksgiving celebration comes at this time of year, at the close of the harvest, when we can clearly see how the Lord has blessed the land and us.
In Bible times it was different. Their thanksgiving came at the beginning of the harvest. The farmers would take the very first of their produce, put it in a basket, and present it before the Lord as their offering of “firstfruits,” as it is described in Deuteronomy chapter 26. In this way they gave honor to God. It was their way of saying “This is just the beginning, O Lord, and it all belongs to You, for it is You who made the soil and the sun. You are the one who brings the rains, and causes the seeds to grow.”
Our annual in gathering of crops should be a reminder to us all of a greater harvest day that is coming. It will be a harvest of all people, on the day that our Lord Jesus will return and raise all the dead. He will gather all His believers to His right hand side and invite them to enter with Him into eternal life. The Bible says that there will be a great many others who will not be a part of this harvest that leads to life, but will instead be condemned for eternity.
Will you and I be at the Lord’s right hand side on that day? How can we know?Read More »Firstfruits for Life