Excellence…Honor…Firstfruits

Honoring God With Our First and Best
There is a difference between doing something because it is routine and doing something because it still carries weight in your heart. Routine is not always wrong. In fact, healthy rhythms can help us remain faithful. But routine becomes dangerous when repetition loses reverence, when what once moved us now simply becomes something we “get through.”
That is why the message of firstfruits is so important.
Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.” Firstfruits was never just about giving something to God. It was about giving God the first place. It was a declaration that said, “Lord, before I trust the harvest, I trust You. Before I enjoy the increase, I acknowledge the Source.”
Deuteronomy 8:18 reminds us, “But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.” God is not only the giver of provision. He is the giver of the strength, ability, opportunity, wisdom, and breath that allows us to produce anything at all. Firstfruits turns remembrance into action. It keeps the heart from forgetting the One who made the harvest possible.
This is where honor and excellence meet.
Honor says, “God is worthy of my first.”
Excellence says, “God is worthy of my best.”
Together, they protect us from giving God what is leftover, rushed, tired, careless, or casual. Not because God is harsh, but because He is holy. Not because we are trying to earn His love, but because we recognize His worth.
The challenge is that weariness can slowly drain excellence. Fatigue can tempt us to lower the standard. Repetition can whisper, “Just get it done.” And if we are not careful, we can still be doing the right things outwardly while losing the honor inwardly.
We can serve, but without joy.
We can give, but without gratitude.
We can worship, but without wonder.
We can lead, but without reverence.
That is the trap of routine.
The widow in Mark 12 reminds us that God does not measure giving the way people do. Her offering was small in amount, but great in surrender. Heaven saw the honor in her heart. The issue was not size. The issue was trust. Firstfruits carries that same spirit. It is not about impressing people. It is about honoring God.
So do not give up on doing things with excellence and honor, even when you are tired. Do not allow repetition to rob you of reverence. Do not let familiarity make holy things feel common. What you do for God still matters. How you do it still matters. The heart behind it still matters.
Galatians 6:9 encourages us, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” There is a harvest attached to faithful honor. There is fruit connected to hidden obedience. There is strength that comes when we keep putting God first.
Firstfruits is more than an offering. It is a posture. It is a testimony. It is worship. It is the heart saying, “God, You are first here.”
Excellence is the root. Honor is the fruit. And what we honor first reveals what we trust most.
Much love Pastors Michael & Susan