| “Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him.” |
| —Deuteronomy 17:1 |
When I was a child, I remember a missionary speaker at my church who told of receiving “care packages” from the States. Inside one box he discovered that the people had sent boxes of used tea bags and used pencil stubs. Imagine receiving that kind of gift sent to you in Jesus’ name to help the people to whom you were trying to minister to and expose to the Gospel! Why, it’s “sloppy mediocrity” at best.
The prophet Malachi was burdened for God’s people about just this kind of “sloppy mediocrity,” selfishness, and heartless worship. Apparently God’s people were giving sacrifices to Him consisting of spoiled food and diseased animals. God rebuked them in Malachi 1:14:
“Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.”
In our day, we may not present defiled animals or spoiled food to God. But, many of us are quite content to give Him that which has cost us little or nothing. In speaking to a mom of a chorister in my former church children’s choir about her child’s erratic attendance, she responded to me with: “It’s only church, for heaven’s sake!”
Make no mistake about it, God wants our very best when we give Him our worship. He wants our sincere excellence. This doesn’t always necessarily mean “perfection.” But, it does mean a heartfelt giving of the very best that we have to give in every situation in which we strive to please God.
Surely when we give offerings to those less fortunate, we can give gifts our own children would enjoy. When we bring food for the pantry ministry to the poor, we can buy the same brands we would buy for ourselves. Whenever we give, let us strive to please God. We should do our very best to follow the admonition of the Apostle Paul, writing in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, when Paul reminds us of what God desires from His people:
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
