In biblical times, the first portion of every crop was considered to be intrinsically holy and set apart for God. In fact, until the first crops were offered to God, the whole field was considered to be holy and none of it could be eaten. (Leviticus 23:14) The idea that the crops of the land are holy until an offering is made is still even practised today among traditional Africans in Uganda and Sudan. In these agrarian cultures, the fertility of animals and ability to grow crops is essential to survival, and assumed to be due to God's favour.
In biblical times the same thing applied to animals - the first male born of the mother was set apart to be given to God, out of thankfulness that He gave the ability to produce, trusting that He would bless with more later. The first products of animal and land, therefore, were considered to be great blessings, the most special offerings to give back to God. That is why in Proverbs it says,
"Honour the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. " (Proverbs 3:9-10)
If we want to apply that to our own lives, that means that we should assume that the first and best of everything that we have is a special blessing from God and something we should offer back to Him. He gave us our relationships, our family, our time, our job, and our money. Do we offer the best back to Him, or do we give him the "last fruits" of our time, our effort and our money?
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