A farmer who was known for being frugal owned a cow that gave birth to two calves. He said to his wife, "I'm going to dedicate one of these calves to the Lord." Knowing her husband, she was very surprised and asked which one he was planning to give to the Lord. "I haven't decided yet, but I'll let you know," he said. A few days went by, and again she asked which calf he was giving to the Lord. "I'm still thinking about it," he told her. Then one day, one of the calves got sick. It grew worse and worse, until one night the farmer walked up on the porch with the calf draped over his arms. He said to his wife, "Honey, I have bad news. The Lord's calf just died."
Many times, we tend to give God what we don't really want ourselves. Think about a typical day. What place does God get? 1st, 2nd, 3rd, last? Do you just blab a quick prayer while rolling out of bed? Maybe a few hurried words of thanks over breakfast? Then off we go rushing to our responsibilities. Then at the end of the day, we stop and say, "Oh ya, I'll give God these last four minutes as I'm dozing off."
If God is important, which I know He is, then why do we give Him our leftovers? God doesn't want nor does he deserve our leftovers. God says to Israel in Malachi 1:7-8, "You have despised my name by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. Then you ask, "How have we defiled the sacrifices?" You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect.”
Realize today that, God gave us His best! So in return...Let's give Him ours!
He died for me…So I’m going to live for Him!
