From the archives of Oral Roberts – First of three parts
And you must bring the best of the first of each year’s crop to the Tabernacle of the Lord your God. – Exodus 34:26 (TLB)
When I was a little boy, our family lived on a farm. We children had to help my father in the fields. And one of the hardest parts was the harvesting of the corn – pulling it from the stalk, shucking it, and putting it in the barn.
In those days, we gathered the corn in wagons pulled down the rows by mules or horses. When my brother, Vaden, and I would bring a wagonload to the barn, Papa would have us climb up in the wagon to pitch the corn into the barn.
One day we were throwing it in right and left (and at one another sometimes) when Papa suddenly stopped us. He said, “Wait a minute, boys. Take the biggest ears and pitch them into a special pile over here. Put the rest in the barn.” When we asked why, he said, “We must not eat our seed corn. The seed from the biggest, best ears is what we’ll plant next year for the biggest, best harvest.”
This is precisely why God wants us to give Him our best. Because that’s what He multiplies back. Your needs and mine are so great we can’t afford to eat or use our best seed on ourselves. We need to let God have it to grow into His best harvest for us.