I wonder how we would feel on Christmas Day if we were to receive, from a friend or relative, a leftover gift from a previous year? And let’s emphasize the fact that you would know it was a used, re-cycled gift. How would this make you feel? What is it that gives a gift its worth, value, or meaning?
In Proverbs 3:9 we are told to honor the Lord with the “first-fruits” of our increase. This means we are to give God our best. We honor God by sacrificing and offering to Him the very best we have. The Apostle Paul teaches that we are to offer ourselves as “living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God” (Rom 12:1).
King David, in 2 Samuel 24:24, affirmed that he would not offer to the Lord that which had cost him nothing. Are we guilty of this? Are we as “living sacrifices” offering to God that which really doesn’t cost us anything? That which requires no sacrifice?
During this holiday season with its emphasis on giving, let’s be reminded that each day of the year we are to give God our best — a sacrifice that costs us something — a gift that’s worth giving.
After all, God gave His best for us—Jesus Christ our Savior — the greatest gift of all! "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15).
Terry Schmidt
12-25-16
12-25-16
