Remembering our deliverancesThe harvest will soon be upon us. It is a time in which farmers work long hours bringing in the harvest. In the Old Testament, we find that at the beginning of the harvest, the Jewish farmer was commanded to bring into the temple and give to the priest the first fruits. After he had brought in the first fruits and dedicated them to the Lord, then he could proceed to harvest the remainder of the crop. The first fruits were often the best of the crop. Why were they to do this? It was to be a reminder to the Jewish nation that God had delivered them out of Egypt, God had provided for them in the wilderness, and that he had brought them into a land flowing with milk and honey. It was to be a reminder of God’s deliverances in their time. Do we ever think of God’s deliverances in our own lives? God has delivered us from hunger and from the harsh elements of the weather. The story is told of a housewife, that as she worked around the house, she thought of all those things that her family had been delivered from, even as she tackled all the household chores. Listen to her thoughts: "Lord, thank you for this sink of dirty dishes, for this pile of dirty laundry, and for these unmade beds." She was thankful because she knew that these things were a deliverance from hunger and a deliverance from the extremes of the elements with an abundance of clothing and a comfortable bed and a warm house. So this fall, as you harvest your crops may you give thanks to God for his deliverances. He has delivered you from hail, wind and drought. Be reminded that as you harvest your crops that there are those in our midst who were not as fortunate. So our thanks and gratitude to God is two-fold. First, we can give thanks for all the deliverances in our lives and we can give thanks for all the blessings. Above all, we can give thanks for our deliverances from sin and its curse, death, and for the blessing of forgiveness and eternal life. Amen.