Honor 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 NIV

Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.
Proverbs 3:9-10 The Message

Some of us may have barns overflowing with crops, but maybe not this time of year. I don’t know, I’m not a farmer. Maybe you have so much new wine that it’s spilling out of the barrels? Also, I do not have a vineyard nor barrels of wine. But this proverb sure does paint a picture for us, even today.

But what does it mean?

I think the first question, though, is: Do you even want to honor God?

Because if you don’t or you’re not sure, if you aren’t there in your life at this moment, then this proverb will not make sense. And if that is you, I would encourage you to jump back to Proverbs 3:5-6 and my blog post on that day.

For those of us who desire to honor God, Proverbs 3:9-10 is important- very important. How do we show our desire to honor God? He is the Creator, the King of all, throughout time- what can we even offer Him?

To show Him that we trust in Him. To show our gratitude for all that He has done for us. To thank Him for being faithful and knowing that He will continue to be faithful. And, no, we don’t always “feel” all of these things, but we must say them anyway. The more we say them, the more they will sink in.

So, we desire to honor God, but how?

Yes, this proverb speaks of monetary wealth. But it also speak of time, energy, our hearts, our minds, everything. God does not want our leftovers. He wants the first and the best, that’s the meaning of “first fruits.”

King David’s psalms speak regularly of seeking God first thing in the morning, the first fruits of our day. Yes, He is there when we are tired and at our wits end at the end of the day, but do not neglect His command to seek Him first. This is a way to show gratitude, it is a way to prove our trust in Him, and to set our hearts in the right place from the very beginning of each day.

When we give God the best we have, we are completely trusting Him to provide more. And this proverb says that when we do that, God will fill our barns to the top and our wine barrels to the brim with new wine. What does that mean for someone who does not have a barn to fill or barrels for wine?

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Psalm 27:13-14

Truly, we give the “best of us” to the thing we love the most. What is that thing for you?

Decide, and then give Him the first fruits. Then wait and see what happens.

Heidi xoxo