All too often

So lately, I have been thinking of my life. I know that it should be an offering to God, as He has created us to glorify Him in everything! I also know that God desires our very best! He desires for us to give our "first fruits" and not just the leftovers or the things that aren't quality or worthy of human consumption, let alone, a gift to a holy, almighty God! As I have studied the last couple of weeks in 1 and 2 Samuel, I have been convicted that more often than not, my offerings are less than "first fruit-ish." David is a main character in these books and he did many things well! He loved God with his whole heart, but often, got distracted by his flesh. God, as always, received David's "broken and contrite heart" and restored him with each sincere apology. David yearned to be excellent in God's sight, and knew that of course, he would fall short, but a story in 2 Samuel 24 has kept coming up in my heart and in my mind and comes up over and over as I live life the last couple of weeks! You know, the daily grind, the mundane, the chores, the things that can be difficult to view as offerings, but cannot be discounted as "just things."

David had sinned against God and had taken matters into his own hands (as David often did. . . as WE often do), and feeling broken and convicted, decided to repent and though God disciplined David (God even gave David a menu to choose from for his punishments!) as well as those that David ruled, God had mercy and stopped His punishment just short of what He had planned, because of David's heart and willingness to absorb all the punishment and still worship and give thanks to His holy and forgiving God. Araunah, who owned the threshing floor where the Angel was commanded by God to cease his task of destruction, saw David coming and offered to give the king his floor where the altar where David would give his offerings to God would be built. But, David knew the blessing of giving God our best, and that doing so often comes at a cost. In 2 Samuel 24:24, King David says this, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

May I never sacrifice to the Lord offerings that cost me nothing! May I strive to be excellent in everything. May I repent and be restored and feel compelled to build altars to my holy and almighty God where I can bow at His feet, praising and rejoicing and bathing in the grace that God continues to offer me as I seek to glorify Him, but find myself all to often glorifying self! May we all refuse to take the easy way that means nothing to us and is not worthy of the God who breathed into us the breath of life!