Day 1,063: Deuteronomy 26- Sacred Portion

When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it,2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
5 “And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7 Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. 11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.
12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.14 I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’
16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. 18 And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, 19 and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

​Meditation
The grace of God moves the people of God to live generously in obedience to God. The opportunity for God’s people to give offerings in worship, accompanied with confession and thanksgiving, distinguishes believers from other people in the world, for the glory of God.
 
Worshipping God with their resources, the first fruits of the harvest, was about more than putting fruit in a basket. God commanded the “first fruits” be taken to the priest (1-4) accompanied with a confession of God’s grace (5-11) and intentional application to the poor (12-15) for the glory of God (16-19).
 
Sharing the “sacred portion” was a response to grace, obedient giving for the Levites, lost (sojourners), lonely (fatherless), left out, and longing (widows). The first fruit offerings flowed from God’s faithfulness and furthered God’s glory.
 
The New Covenant celebrates a greater redemption whereby God Himself gave everything through the person and work of Jesus Christ. The obedient response of Christians is to worship God with our resources. Giving to God is a “both/ and” reality. Rejoicing that God is the giver of all good things (James 1:17), Christian worship is distinguished by giving our sacred portion for His glory.  Knowing Jesus became poor for us so that we can be rich in grace and love (2 Corinthians 8:9), we share all we have with the lost, lonely, left out, and longing.
 
Worshipping God with our sacred portion grows naturally from the ground of God’s grace, with eagerness to “remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10).
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially in regard to the worship of God with the resources of first fruits of the harvest?
 
-Why is the command of God to offer confession of redemption significant to orient hearts in giving generously? What happens to your heart when you give out of duty rather than delight?
 
-Jesus became poor for you, so that you can become rich in love and grace. How does this both fuel and form your faith to worship God with your resources while also pushing you to “remember the poor”?
 
Key Verses
13 then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.