Offering sacrificing to God has always been a part of spiritual service. While under the Law of Moses the people were to offer to God animal sacrifices, today our sacrifices are spiritual in nature (1 Peter 2:5). Regardless of the type of sacrifice offered, God has always demanded that those offering give their best.

Leviticus 1:1-4 (ESV)
¹ The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock. ³ “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD. ⁴ He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Offering a male without defect or blemish pointed to them giving the best of the herd or flock. This is what God deserves and demands. Sadly, God’s people do not always do this. When the Jews came back from captivity they began to offer lame and blind animals to God in sacrifice.

Malachi 1:6 (ESV)
⁶ “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’

To give God less than our best is to disrespect Him in such a way that He does not deserve, not only because of His greatness, but because in giving to us, He gave His best (John 3:16).

When we read of Israel offering God blind animals, our self-righteousness raises its ugly head and we immediately condemn them for their ungodly behavior. However, we should all pause and examine our own lives. Do we always give God our best?

When it comes to our worship, do we give one hundred percent at every service? Do we sing with all our heart every time we sing? Do we pray with total focus every time we are led in prayer? Do we give to the extent that we show our love for Christ and His cause by our giving? If we are ever guilty of not doing these things, we are offering to God lame and blind sacrifices.

What about our evangelistic efforts? Are we giving our absolute best? Do we take advantage of every opportunity to save souls? Remember, anyone who is not a Christian is a potential prospect. If there is someone we associate with regularly who is not a Christian, we invite them to our services or ask them for a home Bible study. That is one way we can give our best in evangelism.

Are we giving our best to the local church, using our talents in a way that is beneficial to the cause of Christ. We all have talent. The question is, are we using our talent to help the local church reach its full potential, or are we just warming a pew? There is much work that can be done in the local church. Let us all give our best to God by giving our best to the local church.

If we give our all in other areas of life but not to our service to God, we are failing to give him honor. When we work hard at work or give one hundred percent when it comes to school, but coast when it comes to the offering up of our spiritual sacrifices, we are disrespecting God. Let us realize how important it is to God that we serve Him with all our hearts. It is interesting that when Solomon married foreign women and allowed them to influence him to the extent that he was guilty of idolatry, the stated reason for God’s anger was that the heart of Solomon was turned away from God (1 Kings 11:9). He stopped giving God his best. Have we stopped giving God our best? Let it never be so.