FIRST THINGS FIRST: PREPARE THE SOIL- DR. ROD MILLS

When you build, first you must build the foundation.
When you plant, first you must prepare the soil.
When you travel, first you must secure a vehicle of travel.

There have been many in the kingdom who plant and water seed, but do little to prepare the soil.  Therefore, they suffer loss of a harvest or significant diminishment of a harvest.

Luke 8:15 (NKJV): “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”

Illustration:  It is possible for two gardeners with the same level of motivation to plant the same seeds in their gardens, take the same actions of cultivating the young plants, invest the same amount of work after they have planted, and yet have very different results in their gardens.  If one of them prepared the soil and the other did not, their results can be vastly different.  If one of them did “first things first” and the other did not, one can have a great harvest and the other suffer great loss, even though they both put a similar amount of work into their gardens.

Likewise, it is possible for two people with the same level of motivation toward God to plant the same seed in their lives, take very similar actions of obedience, invest a similar amount of effort to seek God, and have very different harvests, if one of them prepared the soil and the other did not.

There are too many people who enter into the activity of the kingdom of God but do not do first things first.  To do first things first is also to give God the firstfruits of our lives. To give God the first fruits is to give Him the best of our lives.  It is to give Him the cream off the top, the best of the best. This transforms our heart desires and makes the heart soil fertile.

Teaching Point:  Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:34)  The soil of our hearts is enriched toward God when we are rich toward God.  The more surrendered I am toward God, the more I find His kingdom and His Presence yielding a harvest of fruitfulness in my own life.  The more I give God the first fruits of my life, the more enriched I find that I become.

Here are some examples of first things first in our lives:

-First Commandment before Second Commandment (also known as the Great Commandments): If I love God with all my heart, I will be much better prepared to love those around me.
-Great Commandments before the Great Commission: The deeper I enter into loving God and loving others with God’s love, the more prepared and motivated I will be to fulfill The Great Commission.
-First Fruits Of Time [Prayer Each Morning]: When I connect with God in the first part of my day, I’m usually much more calibrated for the day’s work and connecting with people.
-First Fruits Of Giving [Don’t give God the leftovers. Give Him the firstfruits up front.]: I find that when I give God a tenth of all my earnings (gross income) along with additional offerings, it releases my heart from the power of Mammon and draws my heart affections deeper toward God and His kingdom.
-First Fruits Sabbathing: New Testament sabbathing on the first day of the week is amazingly symbolic of this principle. Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week, but it is also the day believers kept holy to the Lord as their sabbath in the Early Church.  It was set apart (consecrated) to connect with God and spiritual family.  However, if you are required to work, be sure to set apart another day for sabbath to connect with God and family (including spiritual family).

In my own life, I have found that how much I like this teaching is usually a gauge of how much my heart is genuinely surrendered to God and making first things first.  The more I give God the first fruits of my life, the more I enjoy doing it!

When we develop the life practices of giving God the first fruits of our time, money, and energy, we are preparing the soil of our hearts.  We are setting a course for our hearts’ desires and making the soil fertile for great fruitfulness in the kingdom of God!


©️Roderick Mills 2018, 2023

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