Is your harvest right?- Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: 1 Sam 4 -7
IS YOUR HARVEST RIGHT? Saturday, May 08, 2010
MEMORIZE: “Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: ” (Prov. 3:9) READ: Haggai 1:4-11 The correct knowledge of how a harvest works is important for the one who wants to maximize his or her harvest. It is one thing to take in a harvest and another thing to benefit maximally from it. When your harvest begins to come, remember to put God first? Proverbs 3:9 says God must be honored with your substance and firstfruits. The first salary or profit in the year is your firstfruits. Honor God with it. The first salary on a new job is your firstfruits. The first profit of a new line of business is your firstfruits. The difference between your old salary and the new salary after an increase has taken place is your firstfruits. What do you do with your firstfruits? It is simply meant for honoring God. If you refuse to honor God with your firstfruits, you may have a harvest but waste the proceeds. Without honoring God with your firstfruits, you may not be able to obtain maximum benefit from your harvest. According to today’s reading, when your output is not commensurate with your inputs, it’s time to look a little closer.  Refusing to honor God with your harvest can determine a whole lot: Whether your harvest will be commensurate with your efforts; whether what you put out will deliver the expected service, and whether your investment and savings schemes will perform as predetermined or be lost. Have you heard of some believers becoming victims of fraudsters? That could be as a result of refusing to honor God with their substance and firstfruits. If you fail to honor God with your firstfruits, you deny yourself the privilege of being honored by things created by God or those designed by man. Do you know that some believers cannot understand why electrical appliances fail to deliver the service or comfort they were meant to? The truth is, even such appliances could rebel against their owners and become tools in the hands of the devourers when they fail to honor God. Anytime your receipts are not commensurate with your inputs, look a bit closer.  Consider your ways. See if you are owing God in the area of honor.  Like the daughters of Zion, what has been worn to bring about beauty and glamour can become ugliness and stink (Isaiah 3:24). Are you experiencing leaking bags? Find out if God is first in your life. ACTION POINT: One major way of honoring God is by bringing Him your firstfruits yearly and as and when due. How faithful are you in doing this?