Watching the Garden

Daily Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 24-27
Focal Passage: Deuteronomy 26:2

About a month ago Terri planted a garden in our backyard. It took the work of all of our kids to get the land prepared, the rows created, and the seed planted. We are now seeing the results of that hard work and are anticipating the fruits of our labor. We can see buds or blooms on every row of the garden and can even see some small tomotoes on one of the tomotoe plants. However, I long for the day in which we can actually eat some of the fresh onions, zuchinni, cantelope, tomotoes, or lettuce.

One of the God-ordained feasts in the Old Testament was First Fruits. In Deuteronomy 26:2, God commanded His people to bring the first of all the soil's produce from their land to the priest to give back to the Lord. This was done so that God's people would never forget that God took them from a place a slavery and gave them a land of their own, and this land provided for them daily and richly. God had done marvelous and miracleous things to bring them into the promised land. The people's actions to give God back the firstfruits was an acknowledgement that all the good they experienced was because God had blessed them as His people.

Deuteronomy 26:9-10 says, "He led us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. I have now brought the first of the land's produce that You, LORD, have given me." Everything good comes from the Lord. It is easy to replace the priority God should have in our lives with other things. Our children become a big priority for us, our careers are a big priority for us, our entertainment becomes what is most important to us, and our relationships with other people become what we are concentrated on. However, we must never forget that the idea of the firstfruits was to say to God, "I recognize You, Lord, as number one in my life and all that I do will be to, First: glorify You! The apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 10:31 that he did everything for God's glory.

What is the first thing people see in your life? What fruit are you producing? If you claim to believe in God, then ultimately other people should see His love through you. You should be telling other people about how good God is to you, and they should see evidence of the fruit God is producing through your life. Tell me what God is doing in your life. Post your comments after this blog entry and proclaim God's goodness! I will keep you updated on the progress of our family garden as well.