Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 26: God’s gifts call for grateful obedience

Begin in prayer

Before we read Israel’s confession over the first harvest gifts, let us remember the Giver of every good thing. Ask Him to make our family’s gratitude truthful, generous, and ready to obey.

The pastures are covered with flocks. The valleys also are clothed with grain. They shout for joy! They also sing.

Psalm 65:13

Father in heaven, Your gifts tell of Your kindness and faithful promises. Help us understand the worship You command and see the redemption fulfilled in Christ. Teach us gratitude that shares with people in need and obeys from the heart. Please open our eyes as we read Your Word, make us more like Christ, and bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

After entering the land, Israelites must bring a basket of its first produce to God’s chosen place. The worshiper must confess how a vulnerable ancestor went to Egypt and became a great nation. Egypt’s oppression led Israel to cry out, and the LORD brought them out and gave them the land. Their harvest gifts must lead to worship and shared joy. The third year’s tithe must feed Levites, foreigners, fatherless children, and widows, with a declaration that it has been used as God commanded. Israel must obey with all their heart and soul, acknowledging the LORD who declares them His own treasured people.

As you read Deuteronomy 26, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God gives His people good gifts and calls for grateful, wholehearted obedience.

When Israel came into the land, each family brought a basket of the first fruit of their harvest to God's chosen place (verse 2). The worshiper then told the family story aloud, “My father was a Syrian ready to perish” (verse 5). That father was Jacob, who had lived for twenty years in the land of Aram, also called Syria. His family went down to Egypt few in number, became a great nation, and cried to the LORD in slavery. The LORD brought them out with a mighty hand and gave them a land flowing with milk and honey (verses 8 and 9). So the first basket said that every good thing in it came from the God who rescued them. Every third year the tithe fed the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow until they were filled (verse 12). Thankful obedience is the answer of a rescued people, and God declares them His own possession (verse 18).

How does Deuteronomy 26 show us that God gives His people good gifts and calls for grateful, wholehearted obedience?

God’s rescue must shape our gratitude.

The worshiper must tell how Israel suffered and cried to the LORD. God’s mighty rescue brought the people into the land He had promised. Bringing its first produce acknowledges Him as the Giver.

God’s gifts must become provision for others.

The third year’s tithe must feed people who lack an inheritance or household support. The giver must follow God’s commands in distributing it. The household’s gratitude must include those whom God names as recipients of the tithe.

God calls for wholehearted obedience.

The LORD commands Israel to keep His laws with all their heart and soul. They have declared that He is their God. He has declared them His own possession, set apart to obey Him.

Memorise

You shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is among you.

Deuteronomy 26:11

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, have I thanked God for Jesus, His best gift?

The worshiper confesses, “Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand”. The basket of first produce belongs within a story of rescue and fulfilled promise. Israel must remember the Giver as they enjoy His land.

Jesus brings His people deliverance from the guilt that thankful words alone cannot remove. He died for His people at the cross, and He rose from the dead. His complete sacrifice has secured their pardon once for all, with no unpaid debt remaining.

Turn from sin and trust Him. Bring Him your guilt, for the risen Savior forgives every repentant believer. He is the Redeemer who brought His people out of sin’s slavery with a mighty hand.

Parent's note

Tell your children why the first basket of produce came with a story of God’s rescue. Help them name gifts for which to thank Him and someone with whom they could share. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His gifts and Christ’s redemption, and bring the gratitude asked about in the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so welcome each one’s thanks.

All who believed were together, and had all things in common. They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need.

Acts 2:44-45

Father in heaven, thank You for the good gifts that sustain our lives. Lead us to trust the Redeemer whose finished sacrifice is enough for forgiveness. Make the gratitude of Your people generous, truthful, and obedient, and teach our family to remember the Giver as we enjoy His provision. In Jesus' name, Amen.