Ok, I'm back, sorry about the long delay.
In this passage, we can get distracted by the formality and the cultural things we don't understand. However, we can all understand two of the main points in this passage: 1) No one is to appear before me empty handed; 2) Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.
Empty handed - without anything. How often to we come to worship God with nothing. We leave worship filling unfulfilled, because we think it is for us. We came empty handed, therefore we leave empty handed. Worship is not about us, it's to be focused on God. When I hear the question, "How was church?", the hair goes up on the back of my neck. This is mans way of bringing worship down to his level, his preference. It has nothing to do with church or worship. If we come with something to offer the LORD, we will be fulfilled because we will have been obedient to come with something instead of expecting it to be for us.
Next, the something we are to bring is the "best of the first fruits". Not just something, but the best. How many times to we crawl out of bed, hurry around, hussle into the worship center, and then worship God. We've not prepared our hearts and minds to be in the presence of our ALMIGHTY GOD. We instead are just alert enough to recognize we don't like the song choice for this Sunday or the Pastor's words aren't thoughtful enough, or clever, or funny, or bold enough to move us. We are usually alert enough to jot down a note that we should share with a friend about the sermon and how it will apply to their life. Yet, we not only don't bring the best of our first fruits, we seldom bring anything.
Discuss this with your kids today. What are you to bring to God in worship? After Sunday Worship, do you talk about what you brought to worship or do you discuss the service and what it did or didn't offer you?
Final thought. If God gave His best, in His Son's death on the cross, what are we giving him?
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