First Fruits

In Scriptures, we hear this idea of giving God our first fruits. In the original context, this meant giving God the first harvest we reap, the best choice lamb or livestock—giving God the best.

But for us, there’s another way of thinking about first fruits: focusing on that word first. Not necessarily first in quality, but first in time, in order, in sequence.

If you’ve ever tried to set a goal for yourself—say, getting in 10,000 steps per day—you’ll quickly learn that to hit that goal, you have to start early. If it’s 3:00 PM and you’ve got a thousand steps, you’re going to be walking for hours later just to catch up. But if you start early, the steps accumulate effortlessly throughout the day, and by evening you’ve hit your goal without stress.

The key is starting early.

I think the same is true for living our faith. Starting our day with prayer gets those wheels in motion. We’re not trying to make up for lost time later when everything else demands our attention.

As the day goes on, priorities at work creep up. The family needs something. The car breaks down. Life happens. And if we haven’t grounded ourselves in prayer first, we’re constantly playing catch-up spiritually, trying to squeeze God into the margins.

But if we can start our day in prayer—if that’s the first fruit we offer—it sets us up for success the rest of the day.

Not because we’ve earned God’s favor by checking a box, but because we’ve already oriented our hearts toward Him before the chaos begins. We’ve already acknowledged who deserves the first and best of our time.

What are you giving God first?