“For the person who has everything.”
That phrase usually precedes a gag gift of some kind that, assuredly, a person who has everything does not yet have. And does not need. Because that person has everything.
Complicated? Then try this on for size. God owns everything, including the clothes hanging in your closet, the cars parked in your garage, your 401(k), your paychecks, your furniture, every digital device at your fingertips, your lawn, your children, even the breath you just took. And everything else you call your own. It’s really his.
He is the owner. You are the manager. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1).
When God asked the Israelites in the Old Testament to bring him offerings, they brought him sick sheep, deformed goats, spotted lambs, and blind bulls. “After all,”they might have thought. “God owns everything so why should it matter? We can keep the good ones.”
God rebuked them,“I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills…Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 51:9,10,14,15).
God asked for good offerings, not leftovers.
God gave quality sheep and bulls to the Israelites. More than that, he gave the priceless sacrifice of his Son who would come as their Savior. And ours. God doesn’t hold back his best. His own Son.
You can’t out-give God. So when he asks for your first and best instead of your leftovers, don’t worry. Give it to him. He can give you more. He will give you more. Perhaps even what is better.
PRAYER:Dear generous God, you own everything that I call mine. You extend it to me on loan so that I can use it for your glory. Thank you for these blessings! I want to offer more of them to you as first and best gifts. Not leftovers. Amen.
FURTHER MEDITATION:Pray through the verses of Psalm 51 above, and meditate specifically on the final verse. What God wants from offerings, more than the offerings themselves, is honor. How does that change the attitude or amount of what you are regularly giving to God? Or special gifts?
