Feast of the First Fruits

Author: Jayson Patalinghug
Source: Holy Bible , Feasts of Israel by Christ Centered Mall Ministry
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“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops, then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim with new wine.”

                                                                                  -Proverbs 3:9-10

I have been a Christian for 7 years already and it is not my first time to celebrate thanks giving Sunday. However today is different, God spoke unto my heart and revealed to me the secret to everlasting bounty.

I thought thanks giving day is all about fellowship with glamorous presentations, I thought it is all about bringing food into the church then everybody will feast on it.  I thought that is just about it. I never thought that this could be a secret for an overflowing wealth as the Holy Bible promised.

In the Old Testament the Lord commanded his people to hold feasts in His honor. The Lord has carefully planned the timing and sequence of each of these feasts to reveal us a special story. These feasts were intended to be a time of meeting between God and man. There were seven feasts that God has ordered and each of them carries great sacredness and solemnity.

I am not a preacher or a master of the Holy Bible; I just jot down the verses our pastor gave during his sermons and research on them further. Since the church is celebrating the First Fruit Sunday in commemoration of God’s command so I looked into its significance to our lives as Christians. Why do we need to celebrate feasts that are not ours? What good could it bring to us?

In Leviticus chapter 23 verses 10, it says about the Lord’s promise to the people of Israel, a promise of a bountiful land, together with that promise is a command that they should bring the sheaf of the first fruits of their harvest unto the priests. When God accepted the first fruits, they became the guarantee that the rest of the crop would indeed be harvested and be a blessing (Romans 11:16). In the New Testament apostle Paul said “But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept” (I Corinthians 15:20).

As God spoke to me through His words, I understand that we have to celebrate the feast of the first fruits for two reasons; first to remember that God offered the life of His precious son Jesus as first fruit in order for us to have salvation; second, we have to offer our wealth and give back to the Lord what is rightfully His, and in this way we can claim His promise of overflowing bounty (Proverbs 3:9-10).

I have never fully understand the scripture until now, today I am not able to offer the first fruit of my wealth, but I made sure to offer my talent back to the one who created everything in this world. Moving forward, I made a vow that once in every year; I will celebrate the feast of the first fruit in remembrance of my saviour and in order for me to claim God’s living promises in my life.