The world says, “Do the best with what you’ve got.” At least until you become unsatisfied with it, then it’s time to search for something different, something new, something that will continue to assist us in the search for more.
“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Phil. 4:11)
The Almighty does not say to us who are hid in Christ, “Do the best with what I have given you that you can.” He says, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov. 3:6)
If we love Him, we obey Him, that means we do with what He has given us in the manner that He has instructed us to.
Your house is His, your vehicle, your pets, your money, clothes, every item that you claim to own, even your very life, belongs to Him, and you are to treat them all as such.
“For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1st Cor. 4:7)
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1)
Doing the best you can, in all due respect my friends, is not good enough, sacrificing all, and please try to understand this truth, is not good enough. This part of 1st Samuel 15:22 describes our employment of properly sacrificing all to the Living God. “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”
Sacrificing all in obedience out of a love for Him whom we serve, and always for His glory.
There are many, saved and presuming to be saved, that want the Almighty to look upon them as they offer their sacrifices to Him, no matter what that sacrifice might be. They want His recognition, they say in a form, “Look, look what I have given up for you, what I have denied myself for you, what I have offered to you.”
“For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” (Psalm 50:10)
“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine:” (Eze. 18:4a)
As if we actually owned anything in the first place.
True contentment begins with the knowledge of this truth my friends.
“And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)
Yes, we are to sacrifice all, everything we have and everything we are, but always in the full knowledge that everything, all of creation, is His to begin with.
And so, the form of our sacrifices becomes vitally important.
If you were not already aware of these truths, then it should alter everything you have ever considered when it comes to the sacrifices you offer to the Living God. Nothing, not one thing belongs to you, save for this, the desire you place upon being obedient to His will and His Word.
Step one must be this, realize you are a servant, loved beyond measure, yes, a friend of the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, but above all one who has been entrusted with the treasures out of His storehouse, one who is expected to be wise in the use of all He has given you, whether it be the materialistic items of this world, or the wisdom and knowledge that He has imparted to you.
“But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” (Luke 12:48)
The more you have in either of these items, the more you are expected to be profitable for His glory with them. Whether house or heart, they are to be sacrificed to the Almighty in obedience through love.
In a loose analogy my friends, let the ones who do not understand the truths written here put their change in the plate as it passes by them in the pew, let them put their ten percent in it, of their increase.
You put everything in it, every time.
The fulfillment of all this is here.
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21)
Everything, all the time. That is what those who live in the world want, others just do the best with what they have. We have been given all, and we offer it all back to Him whom it all belongs to, all the time.
