Galatians 1:10, For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

I stood over the hot stove and watched as silvery onions slid from the cutting board making a slow descent into a bath of browning butter. Curly scraps- evidence of the seasons greatest bounty- lay in scattered piles over the counters and in the dull metal sink.

I was in the company of a friend yesterday and she shared with me that she was having a no-good-horrible-very-bad-day. This is a woman who is three steps ahead of me and has reached out her hand more times than I can possibly count to pull my tired feet out of the muck and mud.

Knowing she is not one to share such emotion on whim, I paused and allowed her words to simmer in my soul. And simmer they did.

Later in the evening I sent her a message asking if I could a bring meal to her for today. I was already prepared to make soup this morning and thought it would be easy enough to share the bounty. She happily obliged knowing it was one less burden upon her plate.

What started as soup then became the best of the bounty I had at my fingertips. It was more food than they could eat in a sitting. I stood in my kitchen for hours labouring over a meal of which I would never partake. I felt honoured to do so.

It was while I was standing over the stove stirring that I began to hear The Lord whisper meaning into my heart.

First Fruits.

First Fruits.

The best of your sacrifice; the first fruits of your labour.

My mind then went to the book of Samuel in the Scriptures. Eli was the priest, his sons in command over the tabernacle. But Eli’s sons were corrupt, demanding the very best of the sacrifices for The Lord and then claiming the first fruits for themselves. They were not satisfied with what was allotted to them and demanded more. The first fruits- the best of the sacrifice- belonged to God and God alone for a purpose of preserving in the hearts of the people gratitude and faith in the Redeemer to come.

But now I am a sister in Christ. I am a child of God. I have been asked to follow His two greatest commandments:

Love no other God before Him.
Love my neighbour as myself.

God is God and will be forevermore. The best of our sacrifice- the first of our fruits- still belongs to Him. We are called to put His commandments into practice for Christ’s glory and not our own. He has asked for my sacrifice and my first fruits in order to preserve in my heart a spirit of gratitude and faith in my Redeemer.

Perhaps your first fruits go unnoticed. Perhaps they go unappreciated. Perhaps they are taken for granted. This is no matter, Beloved, for if you were trying to please man, you would not be a servant of Christ.

It isn’t the sacrifice or the first fruits themselves that are ever lasting. It is the true bounty The Lord lavishes upon us at His banquet table that fill us. This bounty consists of thankfulness for what you have to give and gratitude that He asked you to give it. And it is the gift of learning how to receive with vulnerability, knowing what the cost may have been to the one who is giving, that offers us the freedom from our burdens that we so desire.

It was Jesus that saw her tears and heard her frustration. It was Jesus that hurt when she hurt. It was Jesus that heard what was hidden within her heart. Not me. All I did was pay attention. All I did was hear Him when He spoke. All I did was put my loving list forward… and the burden took care of itself.

Father, help us to put our first fruits forward as a sacrifice to you. Help us to do whatever it is that you ask of us in order to fan the flame of faith within the heart of another. And in Jesus name, help us to open our clenched fists and never keep the first fruits for ourselves. Amen.

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