Deuteronomy 26 -- Three Solemn Confessions

Moses shared with them three solemn confessions to be believed and announced once they'd entered and taken the Promised Land.  The first was a confession of God's goodness, and it would be spoken by each man after he'd harvested his first crop in the Promised Land.  He'd be thanking God for His goodness to him, and also he'd be declaring that he'd now claimed his inheritance in the land.

My commentary likened it to a verse in Deuteronomy 6:  "He brought us OUT ... that He might bring us IN..."  Today God can bring us out of sin and into His presence through Christ.

In giving a tenth of the firstfruits of his harvest, my commentary said, "the worshipper was actually giving the ENTIRE harvest to the Lord.  Stewardship doesn't mean that we give God a PART and then use the rest as we please.  True stewardship means that we give God what belongs to Him as an acknowledgment that all that we have is His.  We then use all that is left WISELY for His glory.  To bring the Lord 10% and then wast the 90% that remains is not stewardship.  It's foolishness."

The second confession was to be used every third year, when an extra 10% tithe was offered for use in feeding the Levites, strangers, orphans, and widows for the next three years.  It was a confession of honesty and generosity.

The third confession was one of obedience.  "The constant danger was that the people not RECEIVE God's Word into their hearts but only HEAR it with their ears and then forget it ... A mere casual acquaintance with the Word isn't sufficient.  If God's Word is to nurture us and change us so that God can bless us, we must devote ourselves to it, heart and soul ... God is faithful to us, but how much we miss when we're not faithful to Him!"

Father, thanks for these solemn reminders.  It's good to look back and see Your faithfulness to us and to know that we can trust You to provide.  Help me to hear Your Word and take it deep into my heart.  Help me to be obedient and faithful to You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford