Peaches, Grapes and a Sack of Seed
A Sermon on Stewardship
Proverbs 3:9
By Harold Dinsmore, M.Div.
© 2008 Harold Dinsmore

Every year, our church observes a stewardship emphasis in November.  Steward means manager.  We then observe and highlight what the Bible teaches concerning what God has placed in our charge.  As we will learn, stewardship is far more concerned with other areas as well as our money.  Our text this morning reads, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops.”

In the Old Testament, we learn in Exodus 13:12 and following that the first fruits given to the Lord were that which first came from the womb, be they animal or human.  Animals were sacrificed before the alter and human children were redeemed by a gift given on their behalf.  On over in Deuteronomy 26, we read this.  "When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it, you must take some of the first of all the soil's produce that you harvest from the land the LORD your God is giving you and put it in a container.  Then go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to have His name dwell… I have now brought the first of the land's produce that You, LORD, have given me. You will then place the container before the LORD your God and bow down to Him.  You, the Levite, and the foreign resident among you will rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given you and your household… I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done all You commanded me…The LORD your God is commanding you this day to follow these statutes and ordinances. You must be careful to follow them with all your heart and all your soul.”