Deuteronomy 26:1-2 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there.
God gave His people a precious gift. He gave them a land of their own. It was filled with food, water, grazing land for their cattle, and best of all, the land was filled with opportunities.
God told His people that He gave them the land for three purposes:
1. The land was for an inheritance.
2. The land was for a possession.
3. The land was for them to dwell in.
This promised land is a picture of God's will for us. If you pause and look around, you will see God provides us with many blessings every day! Food, water, occupation, and opportunities are just the beginning of the blessings we have.
God desires us to receive the inheritance of His will that He has laid out for us. He expects us to receive this inheritance with gladness as a gift from Him.
Our Heavenly Father always expects that we possess His will. This is to say that we hold onto His will. It’s not enough that we receive it as an inheritance, we must not let it go. Too many a person has squandered the possessions that were passed down to him, and God is sure to remind us to avoid this.
The Lord also says to dwell in the gift He provides. This means His people were to live in the Promised Land. It was their land. It wasn’t enough to hold the deed, they needed to lay their head down at night in this very land. This is a great reminder for every saved person that God did not gift us our life to be a token of what He has done. The gift of God's will is to be fully lived out every day with every ounce of our being.
This abundant gift was given to the people, and as soon as God finished telling them what to do with this gift, He moves on to verse two where He tells them what they are to do in the area of giving.
Receiving the land as an inheritance, possessing it as their own, and dwelling in the land was not enough. They were to give back a portion of the fruit that the ground provided—and not just any part of the fruit. They were to give the first of the fruit!
We have been richly blessed by God. And just like God's people in the Bible, we must work hard to stay blessable. But we need to remember that we are gifted everything we have. Our skills are from God, our homes, and our family—it’s all a gift. And God asks that we give back from the fruit of those gifts.
Whether it’s money from our work, time, or talent, we all need to give back. May we always remember where the blessings pour down from, and give back to God what
He’s been so good to give us in the first place!
