Our guest room is a jumble of wrapping paper, ribbon, tape, tissue and gifts waiting to be wrapped. Whenever another package is delivered by UPS or Fed Ex, I eagerly open it, examine the contents and then start wrapping. I looked forward to the arrival of some projects I’d made on my favorite photo web site but, when I opened their bright orange package, I was disappointed to find two small manufacturing flaws in one of the items. I wouldn’t give anything less than the best to my family so I immediately e-mailed my complaint. The company is making another (and hopefully perfect) one for me, but my refusal to give something slightly flawed to someone I love brought to mind this verse from Proverbs. 

If I’ll only give “the best” to a loved one, what makes me think that less than my best is good enough for God? If we love God, we should honor Him by giving Him only the best we have to offer! Yet, instead of giving Him the first and finest, we often give Him only what’s left-over or substandard. Instead of choosing the items most needed by the food bank, do we ever look through our pantries and only donate what we’ve overstocked or, worse, what is outdated? When we contribute to charity auctions, rummage sales, or resale shops, do we choose items we’d ever consider possessing or just the stained and damaged things we’d never consider wearing? Do we have the unspoken caveats of “Only if it’s convenient… if I remember… if nothing better comes along!” when we volunteer to help a worthy cause? When we contribute our time or talents, do we ever slack off and think, “Well, it’s close enough for volunteer work,” and do shoddy or sloppy work? When (perhaps I should say “if”) we use our money to help the disadvantaged or sick, is it just our spare change that is dropped into the bell-ringer’s bucket or do we dig deep into our pockets? After serious thought and prayer, do we budget money for the church’s work as readily as we do for our mortgage and vacation fund, or do we just give God whatever money happens to be left over once we’ve spent all we want?

Let us never forget that everything we have, every blessing we enjoy, is a gift from God. It’s only right that we should return it to Him. He knows we’re not perfect and he doesn’t expect perfection from us. He does, however, demand the first and best from each and every one of us. After all, He cared enough to send the very best, his only begotten Son, so that we could have eternal life. We should always give him our best in return.