Nov 16 – First Fruit !

“Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures” (James 1:18)

You are all predestined to be the first fruits. And it is for this purpose, that God has brought you forth by the word of truth.

Just meditate on the term ‘first fruit’! Normally a tree comes out with branches and leaves, and produces buds. Many of these buds may wither, and not progress to the stage of flowering. Even all the flowers that blossom, may not last till formation of fruits, and some of them are destroyed by insects or by fierce winds. But some ultimately make it to the stage of a ripe fruit, which are healthy, sweet and pleasant that turn into the first fruits of the tree.
When wheat is cultivated, at the harvesting season, there will be some sheaves which will be devoid of grains. After harvesting the sheaves, the farmer separates the chaff and burns them, while the wheat grains are gathered into the barns.

It is true that Christ Jesus suffered on the Cross, shed His precious blood and died for each one of us. And He rose again on the third day. While many are touched in their hearts about this great event, they just stop without maturing further in their Christian belief. Some of them, even after a born-again experience, follow after the world and backslide in their faith. There are some others, who even after experiencing redemption, still get pulled by the pleasures of the world and backslide as they do not have a strong prayer life.
However, there are others who progress through all these stages of maturity, get baptized, receive anointing and lead a life of separation for the Lord. They stand firm in the Lord and make a steady progression toward perfection and holiness, and lead an overcoming life.

The Israelites when they were set free from the bondage of Egypt, were called to enter into Canaan. But many of them, out of their longing in their hearts for the Egyptian garlic, onions and melons, perished on the way in the wilderness. There were others, because of their testing of the Lord and their murmuring, were forbidden from their calling. At the same time, from among those who started off from Egypt, only Joshua and Caleb were able to inherit as the first fruits and enter into Canaan.
Dear children of God, when you accept Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you become a new creation. While that is the beginning, you should never forget to continually grow and mature and be holy and perfect, in Christ.

Verse for further meditation: “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28))