March 25, 2023 - First Fruits

     Writing the blogs has been beneficial to me in more ways than I could have imagined when I started writing them.   To those who have faithfully read them I hope they have had some benefit to you, too.  They have been intended for two main purposes: to give information on the diagnosis and treatments and to let me write down how I have felt going through this journey.
     At this moment it is like we have pulled into a rest area and we are waiting.  Waiting for some final results of the tests and waiting for direction on the next chapter of the treatment.
     While we are in the rest area I am going to rest from writing blogs every day and move to once a week, unless I get word from Mayo Clinic on how they intend to proceed.
     That wise, not so old, sage said to me this week, “Dad, if you keep writing a blog every day, you’re not going to have any illustrations for sermons!”  I took that as a word from the Lord.
     After this morning’s blog I intend to write just one a week at least for a while, likely on Monday.  I will, however, write a blog at two other times: when we get some information from Mayo and when God nudges me to do so.   That holy nudge is something I have tried never to ignore.  When the treatments resume I may return to a more frequent schedule.
     I mentioned in one of the early blog posts about the Biblical principle of “first fruits.”  Farmers in the Old Testament were commanded to literally bring the first fruits of the harvest as an offering to God.  The principle is one of faith, believing that God will bless the rest of the harvest if we give Him the first of the harvest.
     I wrote in the blog that I have done that since I was 12 years old and mowed lawns.  I kept record of each lawn I mowed and what I was paid.  At the end of the month I would total what I was paid and would pay my tithe to the church.
     I have lived by that first fruits principle all of my life, giving to God first before any other responsibility.  There is no question in my mind that the blessings that Teresa and I have enjoyed are directly tied to that commitment in our lives. 
     We haven’t given because we expect God to bless us.  We have given because we love Him and want to walk in obedience to Him.  The blessings have been a byproduct of that.
     During these days of Lent I made the commitment to apply the principle of first fruits to each day, to give God the first fruit of each new day. 
     Our lives are so cluttered with all we have to do.  Often what gets put on the shelf is our devotional time.  People often believe that they are too busy to pray.  The truth is, I am too busy not to pray.
     For almost four weeks I have lived out this principle of first fruits every day, giving God the start of each day, rather than the “leftovers” of time when the day was done.
     Except one day this week.  Honestly, it was pretty easy when I was in Rochester for two weeks living in a motel and waiting for the radiation treatments that were usually around noon.
     It was far more difficult when I returned to my normal schedule this week.
     I fretted for most of that day.  I knew that I didn’t get up early enough to have the time to spend with Jesus because of something on the day’s schedule that I had to do. 
     Looking back on that day, it was the least productive of any day of the last four weeks.  Was that because I was fretting, knowing I had missed giving God the first part of the day?  Or was it because I didn’t receive the blessing of God because I failed to give Him the first moments of the day?
     It doesn't matter, does it?  The practical reality was that the one day I chose what I thought was the best use of my time resulted in a far less productive day.
     Giving God the first fruits of every day is far more difficult for me than giving God the first fruits of His blessings in my life.  Lord, help me learn that the principle is the same.