Present possession is declared! Right now—this very moment—you possess the firstfruits of the Spirit.

Look what you already have! Repentance, that gem of the first water. Faith, that priceless pearl. Hope, the heavenly emerald. And love, the glorious ruby. You are already a new creation in Christ Jesus through the effectual working of God the Holy Spirit.

Why call it firstfruits? Because it comes first. In ancient Israel, the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest, waved before the Lord. Just like that, the spiritual life and all the graces that adorn it are the Spirit's first operations in our souls.

But here's what thrills the heart: firstfruits are the pledge of the harvest to come. The moment an Israelite farmer plucked that first handful of ripe grain, he looked forward with glad anticipation to the day when his wagon would creak beneath the weight of the sheaves. Brothers and sisters, when God gives us what is pure, lovely, and of good report through his Spirit, these are the prognostics of coming glory. Promises written in the present tense.

Those firstfruits were always holy to the Lord. Set apart. Consecrated. And so is your new nature with all its powers. This new life is not ours that we should ascribe its excellence to our own merit. Not one bit of it. It is Christ's image and creation, ordained for Christ's glory.

But the firstfruits were not the harvest. And the Spirit's work in you at this moment is not the consummation—perfection is yet to come. We must not boast that we have attained, mistaking the wave-sheaf for all the produce of the year. No! We must hunger and thirst after righteousness. We must pant for the day of full redemption.

Dear reader, this evening open your mouth wide and God will fill it. Let the boon in present possession excite in you a sacred avarice for more grace. Groan within yourself for higher degrees of consecration. Your Lord will grant them to you—he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or even think.