Got any spare change guvnor?

I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing
2 Samuel 24:24

During Calvary’s week of prayer in September this passage from 2 Samuel was brought to us. The context of the passage is that David was seeking to build an altar to the Lord on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Araunah was quick to offer David his oxen for the burnt offering, his threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood, and his threshing floor to build an altar on – all without charge. However David was resolute in his commitment that he wouldn’t offer God a sacrifice that cost him nothing.

Later that day, as we met for prayer again, somebody else felt they had a picture from God and they interpreted it as saying that we have a tendency to put him in a bag and chose whether to carry him into situations with us or to leave him outside to be picked up later.

The following morning two other scriptures were brought, all on the same theme. One from Malachi (1:13b) says “When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” The other was from Amos 5:21-24.

As I reflect on these scriptures and the picture I notice a consistent theme through them. A challenge. A personal challenge but I suspect also a challenge to us all, both individually and as God’s people.

The challenge is simple – do we give God the best of what we have? For example, when we plan our day do we put time with God first? Do we give ourselves to prayer and the Bible when we are at our best, or do they have to fit in with everything else? When we give financially, do we give generously from what he has given us, or do we give from what is left over after everything else has been paid for? When we decide whether to get involved in the things that God is calling Calvary to do, do we give the best of our time or only get involved if we have spare time? When we meet people in need of an encounter with the Kingdom of God, do we only give them time if we aren’t in a rush or do we stop and put them first?

As I ponder those examples I realise how often God gets second best, the spare change of my life if you will. I realise afresh how often I short-change God, the God who gave everything for me. I find I’m brought back to my knees in repentance with a fresh determination to ask the Father to change my heart that I might better serve him and not my own needs, putting him and the call of his kingdom first in everything. I wonder, will you join me on my knees in that prayer?