The Best Belongs to the Lord – The First Commandment

The Best Belongs to the Lord

The First Commandment

No other gods

Exodus 23:19

“The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God.”

Proverbs 3:9, 10

Our text emphasizes that the best of our firstfruits are to go to the Lord. This required a process of selection, comparison, and “sanctification” of the firstfruits, setting apart the best for the Lord. Giving to the Lord must not be a mindless or automatic task. We should think and pray over our giving, make sure that we are investing in the best Kingdom enterprises, and consecrate our gifts to the Lord with prayer and rejoicing.

The way we practice giving to the Lord says as much, and perhaps more, about our relationship with Him as the mere fact that we give.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.