A few months back, I sat in reflection after hearing the word of God and a verse discussing the first fruits of our labor. Having a brief experience with the concept, I began to research the topic in order to be sure what I understood first fruits to mean was in line with Christian ideology. I found first fruits to be explained as the practice of offering the first products of your labor to the Lord, in gratitude; in a more broad way, the first results of an undertaking. Assuming permission, I continued to reflect on the harvest of my labor, questioning what my undertakings produce that may be worthy of offering to the Lord?
Evaluating a number of happiness projects I had adopted in my life, I wondered what each of these efforts were yielding with their success. Quitting bad habits obviously made me a healthier person, but was the product of this labor tangible enough to offer up? Being healthy afforded me the frame of mind and physical toughness to serve when the Lord called. My response to His call came at no monumental price, He placed me here to do this work, what He received was surely pleasing, but of no great sacrifice to me. There had to be something in my life that I toiled at, daily, without rest, that would delight the Lord.
Unexpectedly it occurred to me. The greatest work of my life was right there. Sitting heavily on my heart, affecting every move, every word, every breath I took. More than a response to His call to service, it was in following His greatest commandment. “This is my command: that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). The love I toil after, the labor my love requires of me, yields a most delightful harvest. Perfecting my love for my neighbor, working to love my enemies, laboring to see others and treat others as the Lord our God sees and treats me, comes at a great price.
My human nature conflicts with the divine nature in which the Lord commands us to love one another. It is when I rise above, with toil and strife, to be more Christ-like in my interactions with those around me that I am able to offer up the result of this worthy undertaking to the Lord. Beyond a simple hour or dollar given to those less fortunate, this undertaking requires me to reach within myself, within the inner most workings of my heart and soul, to truly love the man who has rejected me. Deep within what feels right, to a place that hurts my ego, so that I can give aid to the woman who spoke hate of me. It is only in that place, that raw and vulnerable place that I may gather this most precious first fruit and lay it in front of the Lord, my offering in gratitude for His love, his perfect, steadfast, amazing love for me.
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