FIRST FRUITS (PART 3)

My First Fruit Story

A Divine Briefing Beforehand

Sometime around late 2009 or early 2010, while working as a manager in an office, I stumbled upon the subject of first fruits. I had never really studied it before, but one Thursday afternoon, I suddenly felt led to search it out. I pulled out my Bible and read every passage I could find on the subject, asking: What exactly does the Bible mean by first fruits? It was like a quick diploma course; I read the pros and cons, scriptures, arguments, everything.

I discovered it meant the very first produce or offering, not the entire harvest. It was a portion, not everything.

That Sunday, I went to church and, to my surprise, the pastor announced for the very first time: “Next week Sunday, everyone should bring their entire January salary as first fruit.” Immediately, I understood why God had led me into that study beforehand.

READ BEFORE: FIRST FRUITS (PART 2)

Testing All Things

Scripture says, “Test all things; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). From as far back as 1997/1998, I had resolved never to follow teachings that contradicted Scripture, unless God Himself convinces me otherwise.

Since then, I’ve committed to following the weight of Scripture, not fear, hype, or manipulation. So, when that next Sunday came, instead of giving my whole January salary of ₦40,000, I gave ₦5,000 as a regular offering.

God’s Faithfulness Confirmed

Within a day or 2 days later, while at work, I got a call from an old friend. He told me he was outside my office. I went down, and he handed me ₦30,000 in cash, saying simply, “I just felt I should give you this.”

Now, I wasn’t his pastor, and at that time I wasn’t even pastoring in any formal sense. Yet God moved him to bless me. That ₦30,000 was nearly the value of my monthly salary, without me giving away the whole of it as “first fruit.”

The Testimony I Couldn’t Share

Ironically, I couldn’t share this testimony in church. The environment was such that would not have accepted such a testimony (that I got blessed financially, even though I had not given my first fruit offering).

But other people in the church had testified: “That thing works! I gave my first fruit, and I got blessed.”

I couldn’t, because how could I tell them that I did not comply and still saw the hand of God? If I had given the full first fruit, wouldn’t I have credited the blessing to that? If I had given my full salary, everyone, including me, would have said, “Yes, it worked because of first fruit!”

But here I was, blessed without following that directive. God proved to me that His faithfulness is not tied to human manipulation, but to His Word.

READ ALSO: A CHANGING GOD

Lessons Learned

Looking back, I see how God honors sincerity, faith, and obedience to His Word, not hype or fear-driven giving.

First fruit in the Bible was not about giving your entire salary. It was about honoring God with the first portion of your increase, as we saw last week from Deut. 26:1–4; Prov. 3:9–10, among other scriptures.

I share this so you’ll learn to test everything by Scripture. Fear God. Obey His commandments. Ask Him for eyes to see. And when He shows you the truth, stand by it.

When you walk in truth, you’ll see that God remains faithful.

READ NEXT: FIRST FRUITS (PART 4)