Malachi 1:8 NIV “When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.”
Have you ever been in a city when the President of the United States came to visit? I have and it is amazing. The whole town, each business, and individuals give their all, the best, and plan for months ahead of time for that Presidents arrival. Think about it: If the President came to your home, would you not set the table with your finest china, serve the best dish, and use your every resource to make his visit special?
That’s what God wants from us daily, our very best, in everything we do, say, and think. We ought to use our gifts with first-class intent as if the President were coming to visit us individually. God might ask us one day just as He did in the book of Malachi, “When you brought your second best, your leftovers, and your scraps, did you think I did not notice?”
I’m reminded that our God is a jealous God. Deut. 4:24 says, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” God wants us so consumed with Him that the thought of giving less than our very best is never considered. Never.
He doesn’t want our second best – He wants our all.