It is the intention of the heart that draws Me; that pulls Me towards your vicinity. Since I can see what is inside each human being, when one of My own makes the attempt to rise in the morning in search of Me, I am happy to meet with him here, no matter the hour. Though “the earlier the better” is a good motto, I am not rigid in the sense that if you aren’t punctual and don’t arrive at a precise time, that I will turn My back on you. No, I am delighted by your motivation, that you are deliberately showing up to give the first part of your day to Me.
Many equate the “First Fruits Offering” with finances, and so it has become a custom to give off the top of your increase. While I do agree with this habit, there is more to this sacrifice, for it’s in the spiritual plane to which I’m referring, the ‘new’ that fulfills the ‘old’. When My Son satisfied each Old Testament requirement, He became the living embodiment of the Law and revealed the underlying meaning of each offering and festival that I established long ago when My people still existed under the Old Covenant.
So then, always look to My Son for the deeper significance in these divine traditions, and not just at the surface, like with the “First Fruits Offering”, where once grain was offered as the commodity given instead of money: when what man produced in the field was brought forward, but which now, in these modern days, has been exchanged to come out of an individual’s cash flow. Yet the real implication of this sacrifice goes deeper than financial sacrifice, for it’s a surrendered life that I’m after, where even the initial part of your day is given to Me.
“First” is the position I desire to hold in your heart (above all the rest) so that when you arise, the first place you turn is to Me. When your very first thoughts are about entering My presence, before switching on the TV or looking at social media, because you long to hear what I have to say, or discover which topic I might want to discuss, and then listen to My counsel as I show you how to pray for a concern you’ve been holding.
So if “first” is truly the place of prominence I hold in the hearts of My children, then running after Me should be their priority instead of chasing after the world. For when one of My own has yielded to My will first, this act of submission depicts the truest form of the “First Fruits Offering”, just like when My Son gave up His own will for Mine, then laid down His life because I required it.
Now, the Truth of this offering has come to light so that, if they’re looking, My children can plainly see that their whole life is meant to be given to Me “first”, not just as a token gesture, on occasion, when they remember to give Me a little attention, but as those who’d live with Christ as their example by putting Me first in all their ways, allowing Me to lead them through each of their days.
Although I’d like the hour we meet to actually be in the early morning, I know at times that because of your human frailty, fatigue will overtake you, making it difficult for you to arise. And yet, since I have seen into your heart and know the position I hold within you, I’m not concerned if on some days we don’t get started until a little later. Therefore, don’t let the enemy fool you into believing anything else, or that somehow you have missed out. This is not true, because I will always be waiting here for you.
“He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created.” James 1:18
(Received: 6/22/2019)