Overflowing with Blessings

Jan 16, 2016 2007

Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10).

Here Solomon reminds his readers of the very first of the Ten Commandments—the one that requires all who have been redeemed by the Lord to put the Lord first in everything. (Deut. 5:6-7). It is a paraphrase of what Jesus said much later in his Sermon on the Mount. If we seek first Christ’s kingdom and his righteousness, he promises to provide us with our daily necessities (Matt. 6:33).

The gospel tells the story of the ultimate gift: the gift of the Son of God to die that we might live forever. We can never out-give this amazing gift. And in reminding us that we will never out-give him the Lord also promises that if we put him first when we “reap our crops” (that is, take care of his work and the needs of the poor before we store up for ourselves), he will ensure that we will never go hungry ourselves— the provision of our food and drink is guaranteed.

The Phoenician widow gave her last meal to the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17:7-16 ), and not even a devastating widespread drought could over-rule the Lord’s plan for her. So it is for us. God is greater than any disaster that might come our way.

As I go along life’s pathway, I’m reaping better than I sowed.
I’m drinking from my saucer ’cause my cup has overflowed.
May I never be too busy to help another bear his load.
I’m drinking from my saucer ’cause my cup has overflowed. (Anonymous).

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