God Requires Our Best

At several of the churches I served at, we had large clothing closets. At one of these closets we requested winter coats, gloves and scarfs. It was a highly successful request because winter coats came in by the carload. The sad part to all this was that many of the coats were worn out and extremely dirty. Several came in with no buttons or broken zippers. We wound up throwing many of the coats away.

The Israelites struggled with giving God their damaged goods too. God spoke through the prophet Malachi and rebuked the Israelites for sacrificing blind, lame, or diseased animals when they had strong animals to offer. (Malachi 1:6-8) Malachi confronted the people of Israel for their lack of respect and honor for God. God gave good gifts to the Israelites, and he expected they offer good gifts to Him in return. Malachi reprimanded the Israelites for keeping the best for themselves (vs. 14).

God promised to send His one and only Son, whose love and grace would transform their hearts and ignite their desire to bring offerings that would be pleasing to Him (3:1-4). It is often tempting to give God our leftovers, but we are reminded that God gave us His very best and we can do nothing less. As we enter the Fall and are asked to sign up for what we will offer God this year, let us remember the Israelites and not offer God our crumbs. When we consider all God has done, we need to celebrate all God has given us and give Him our very best. God requires our very best!

Prayer – God who created the heavens and the earth, You gave us your only Son who died for our sakes and promises eternal life for each of us when we believe. May we give back to you our very best! Amen.

Malachi 3:3 – He will purify… and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have people who will bring offerings in righteousness.

Author: Tommy Herndon
Photo: Melissa Knabe