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Topic: First Day of School (06/28/04)
TITLE: First makes the grade By darlene hight 07/01/04 |
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There she sat, a blonde haired wisp, delicate as a dandelion puff. Seeing her sit straight-backed, brave in her school desk. Memories flood to my mind. Memories of her tramping around the house in her daddy’s shoes. As I fought back tears and an overwhelming urge to rescue her from her wooden symbol of higher learning. My mind screamed ‘She’s too little!’ while I heard myself say “Bye Sweetheart. You are going to have so much fun at school today.” She nodded. She wasn’t afraid. I on the other hand can still feel the knot in my stomach. My daughter is thirty- one years old and the memory of her first day of school carries with it an ache known only to those that have held and released something precious.
No wonder God placed so much emphasis on first fruits. There is something of great significance in a ‘first’. Take a little trip down memory lane. Think back to your first kiss, bike, car and roller coaster, time away from home, your first job or first paycheck, your first year of college or of marriage. These firsts will evoke a variety of feelings, pleasant and unpleasant depending on the players. Seconds don’t hold the same weight. A first experience can’t be duplicated.
God gave us His first fruits when He gave His only begotten Son. He desires the best of what we have, not to snatch out of our hands rather to trust Him with. I trusted my daughter to the skilled hands of many teachers and because of that she has the gift of an education.
Can we trust God with our first fruits? II Corinthians 1:20 – 22 For no matter haw many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come.
“What is to come”, That is another mental exercise worth pondering. Imagine your first glimpse of heaven. That is a first that I definitely don’t want to miss!