This morning has been a reflective one for me. I sense various challenges and opportunities before me that are exciting and even a little bit frightening. At the same time, I have before me some difficulties of things gone wrong and unfulfilled dreams and visions. The reality is that we can find times in our lives where we feel trapped or uncertain as to what is going on and what it is that God is trying to do in and through our lives.
Yet, I have come to a renewed conviction about something. GOD DESERVES OUR BEST.
When things are going as we want . . . GOD DESERVES OUR BEST.
When things aren't going as well as we would like . . . GOD DESERVES OUR BEST.
It seems that in many ways within the modern church the idea of excellence and giving God our best is a foreign concept. How many times have I myself done just enough to get by? How many times have I forfeited God's best and my best to just embrace the good enough? You might say it is a church epidemic. We only approach God at appointed times. We only think of Him when we need something. We want His bailout when it gets tough. And, we want all that God has to offer without our having to offer anything. If we would be brutally honest with ourselves, many of us fit that picture.
But I am haunted by this question this morning:
IF I DON'T GIVE GOD MY BEST AM I GIVING HIM ANYTHING AT ALL?
I think about the story of David in 2 Samuel 24 when he was instructed to build an altar unto the Lord and offer sacrifice and worship. He approached the owner of the field and the guy was willing to give the land to the king for nothing. Yet, David's response baffled him and it baffles me this morning.
21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be held back from the people.” 22 Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.” 24 However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 David built there an altar to theLord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the Lord was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.
David had it in his heart to only give God the best. And it was said about David that he was a man after God's own heart. Just like God cared enough to send His very best - His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross - so are we to give our best to Him. Yet, how often do we just skirt the issue? We give just enough. We do just enough. We go just enough. On and on.
Jesus said that our hearts are where we have placed our treasure (Matthew 6:21). The choices we make in our lives reveal what is really in our hearts. And the begging question is whether our hearts are in the right place with God to the point that we give Him our very best.
Just like the widow who gave her 2 small coins, our very best does not have to outdo or measure up to or with someone else. It must be OUR very best. I cannot give your very best. You cannot give my very best. We each have our own responsibility. Always remember . . .
GOD DESERVES OUR BEST.
3 comments:
Amen PRB. Encouraging post even for a happy encouraged me :). In my case its like its so easy to get busy and not "eat" enough spiritually.. I pray alot throughout the day and God is ever near but I constantly need to fight to find time for his word. Its a fight that I'm determined to win every day!
Dear Brother Rodney: As I read your commentary on the fact that God deserves our best, I was reminded of the fact that several years ago, I came under the conviction that God does indeed deserve our vey best. Therefore, I compiled a short thesis on this subject I entitled, "The King Deserves Our Best." And since you seem to be dedicated to this same subject, I thought perhaps you might enjoy reading this thesis. Because of that, I am enclosing the text of it. This is it: The King Deserves Our Best
The writer of one of the Sunday School lessons in the Life Ventures Learner’s Guide wrote the following as an introduction to one of the lessons he wrote:
Our church has taken mission trips to two islands off the coast of Nicaragua. Most of the people there are extremely poor and struggle to acquire the basic necessities of life. Once we worked with the pastors to plan an evangelistic crusade at the baseball stadium. On the first night of the crusade, I was surprised to see the people walking the dusty roads toward the stadium dressed in their finest attire. One woman wore a brightly colored dress and a lovely smile. I said, “Well, you surely are dressed up.”
She responded with a tone of confidence, “I’m going to worship the King, and He deserves my best.”
We know God is far more interested in our inward attitudes than our outward apparel, but the woman in Nicaragua had an understanding of God that is sorely lacking in our day nowadays. She knew something of God’s majesty and holiness that transcended the casual atmosphere on a remote Caribbean island. In this lesson, we shall see God as uniquely holy and worthy of our reverence and praise.
One thing many Christians nowadays fail to understand is that we cannot and should not come to God in just any way we want to. Instead, we must come to Him in the way He wants us to. We must come to Him, not only in the way He wants us to come to Him, but more importantly, we must come to Him in a way in which we show and demonstrate our greatest amount of respect and reverence for Him as the Holy God He is. If a Christian truly loves God and His Son, Jesus Christ, there will be no doubt whatsoever in his or her mind as to how they should dress and adorn themselves when they come into His presence to worship Him. However, to some extent, I can understand why some people act this way and do this because sometimes, my thoughts and actions on this matter seem to be beyond what some others can understand.
During these contemporary times, far too many people, and unfortunately, even some Christians are guilty of the sin which is described and spoken of in Judges 17:6 which says in part, “…every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” However, as for me, I refuse to, and I will not allow myself to be ensnared by the temptation as some seem to have, to fall into and develop the sinful habit of dressing and adorning themselves in the casual, disrespectful and irreverent manner in which many often and frequently do. But contrary to that way of thinking, I have determined that with His blessing, assistance and Him enabling me to, I will make my every thought, word and deed that which not only is pleasing to Him, but also honors and demonstrates the greatest respect I am capable of offering to Him as my Lord and as my King.
(This thesis was written by James Hartnett for the purpose of him, not attempting to impress anyone with his piousness but instead, for the purpose of him declaring and demonstrating his allegiance to his King, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the process, honoring and reverencing Him with all of his thoughts, words and deeds.)
("The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." (1 Thessalonians 5:28)
jamesis1stforgod@bellsouth.net
This is James Hartnett again. I am thankful that you have posted the above comment that I submitted, not only for you, but for everyone else to read and consider. One of the reasons I am appreciative to you for your posting what I submitted is because I consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to spread
God's Word by sending it out. One of the reasons I am thankful for this is because God has said the following: "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Because of what He has said, not only here, but in many other places in His Word as well, I have chosen to take advantage of EVERY opportunity He gives to me to spread forth, His Word.
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