Don’t Offer God Your Leftovers! by Diann Thomas

Don’t Offer God Your Leftovers! by Diann Thomas, The Morning Tea

Nor will I offer . . . the Lord . . . that which cost me nothing.  2 Samuel 24:24

Hard work makes you sweat.  Notice, when Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden they had to "sweat to earn a living" (Genesis 3:19 CEV).  Farmers sweat to turn their crops into cash, the same as bricklayers on a construction site or an executive writing a report in a high-rise office suite.  You tend to value what you have to work for - and God values your efforts as well.  That's why when David had the chance to offer God a sacrifice he said, "Nor will I offer . . . the Lord . . . that which cost me nothing."

Whether you do it figuratively or literally, you sweat to earn a living.  And you'll also do the same when you're committed to worshiping God.  This doesn't necessarily mean praising Him loudly and raising your hands in church; those things are good at the proper time.  But in-depth worship goes far beyond that.  The word worship comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "worth-ship," which is "the act of ascribing worth or value to a person or object."  In the New Testament worship encompasses service, adoration, reverence, humility, love, and giving. 

For example, tithes and offerings are the part of worship where you give God the first portion of your earnings (Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase  Proverbs 3:9).  It's another way of honoring Him with the fruits of your time and energy.  When you sacrifice sleep to get up early and spend time with God, you're also doing something that costs you. 

And when you inconvenience yourself to help somebody in need, you're offering God something of real worth (But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowls of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?  1 John 3:17).

So examine your heart today and make sure you're offering Him something of value, and not just your leftovers.