Gratitude necessitates expression. Whether a simple, "thank you", a grateful gesture, or a generous act, gratitude motivates expression.
A people living in a land of promise were called upon to express their gratitude in a specific way: " "Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name."
Simply put, the people of Israel were to bring the first portion of their abundant harvest as an offering to the God who had brought them to the land of promise. The first fruit offering was closely associated with the fulfillment of God's promise.
There is another very significant mention of first fruits in connection with God's promises: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." (1 Corinthians 15:20) A promise is in process of being fulfilled, and a gratitude offering been given. The land of promise is the coming kingdom on a new earth, and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is associated with a vast, abundant harvest in the land of promise. In other words, the fulfillment of promise is just around the corner!
You and I who are born again believers in Christ are part of a great crop about to bear fruit in the land of promise. Jesus is the first fruits from among the dead - the precedent for a vast number of dead believers who will rise up out of their graves one day.
As we await the complete fulfillment of what began with Christ's resurrection, we want to experience the great power of His resurrection: "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:10-11) Like Paul, we want to be closely associated with the great power of God that raised Jesus from the dead, and His suffering and death, so that we will be positioned to attain resurrection from the dead ourselves should we fall asleep in death before His return.
My prayer for each of us today is that we might more fully experience dynamic resurrection power as we live for Him today, and anticipate the fulfillment of hope at His return as He makes the earth the land of promise, the kingdom of God.
Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2011
A people living in a land of promise were called upon to express their gratitude in a specific way: " "Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name."
Simply put, the people of Israel were to bring the first portion of their abundant harvest as an offering to the God who had brought them to the land of promise. The first fruit offering was closely associated with the fulfillment of God's promise.
There is another very significant mention of first fruits in connection with God's promises: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." (1 Corinthians 15:20) A promise is in process of being fulfilled, and a gratitude offering been given. The land of promise is the coming kingdom on a new earth, and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is associated with a vast, abundant harvest in the land of promise. In other words, the fulfillment of promise is just around the corner!
You and I who are born again believers in Christ are part of a great crop about to bear fruit in the land of promise. Jesus is the first fruits from among the dead - the precedent for a vast number of dead believers who will rise up out of their graves one day.
As we await the complete fulfillment of what began with Christ's resurrection, we want to experience the great power of His resurrection: "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:10-11) Like Paul, we want to be closely associated with the great power of God that raised Jesus from the dead, and His suffering and death, so that we will be positioned to attain resurrection from the dead ourselves should we fall asleep in death before His return.
My prayer for each of us today is that we might more fully experience dynamic resurrection power as we live for Him today, and anticipate the fulfillment of hope at His return as He makes the earth the land of promise, the kingdom of God.
Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2011
posted by steve @ 8:20 AM
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