9 Honour the Lord with your wealth,
with the FIRST FRUITS of ALL your crops;
10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine. Proverbs 3
33 But SEEK FIRST his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6
Two scriptures, one from Proverbs, Wisdom writings in the Old Testament. The other, Jesus Words in the Beatitudes, from the Gospel of Matthew (the Gospel of the King). Both scriptures contain a Promise, with a Condition. The Condition is that we put God First and the Promise is that He will add to us if we do this.
I have been impacted by two very different Christian voices already this year 2022, speaking about putting God First.
The first, a lady (Robin R Bullock), said when she woke up on New Year’s morning that she felt a ‘Check’ in her spirit to be careful of the First Words she uttered, because they would frame her day and her year. I’d never thought of that before, that our First Words could help frame our destiny! Would this be true for other ‘First Events’ e.g. meeting new people, starting a new job, a new role in ministry?
The second man, prophet Tomi Arayomi, who has moved his family back from the U.K. to Nigeria in obedience to the Lord. He gave a prophetic word to the nations for 2022 (available on YouTube, lasts just over twenty minutes) and included in that word he spoke of a Promise the Lord had given him with a Condition. The Lord told him to give Him the first month, January, and if he did this then God would look after the rest of the year for him (important in a new location). In response to this, Tomi has decided to go on a fast from the tenth to the thirty first of January and asked for people who’d like to join them, to sign up/commit online.
On a personal note, THE LORD ENABLED ME to give the first month’s salary to Him several times whenever I changed job. That was a way for me to ‘honour the Lord with my income, the First Fruits’. He gave me those jobs and they were great blessings for different seasons of my life!
The account of Elijah meeting the poor widow of Zarephath in Sidon, was Challenging, but secured both her and her son’s lives. Elijah made a demand of her;
He called to her and asked, ‘Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?’ 11 As she was going to get it, he called, ‘And bring me, please, a piece of bread.’ 1 Kings 17
She told the man of God, that she only had enough meal left to make some last bread for herself and her son, but Elijah challenged her in her need to give him some First.
13 Elijah said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But FIRST MAKE A SMALL CAKE OF BREAD FOR ME from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.”’ 1 Kings 17
The widow OBEYED AND LIVED! Could it be that the Lord is challenging some of us to Give something to Him at the BEGINNING of this New Year, to secure provision for us and our loved ones for the year ahead?
May God bless and keep you as you follow Him this year.