By The prophet Malachi rebuked the people of his day for giving the left-overs to the LORD God Who saved them, provided for them, and deserved their best (Malachi 1:8). The right way would be to bring the best portion of all to the LORD.
This is wonderfully evident in the building of the tabernacle during the days of Moses and then, somewhat similarly in the building of the temple during the days of Solomon.
Moses records how only the best workmanship was put to work for the building of the tabernacle. Exodus 26 – 30 records some of the most intricate details of the building of the tabernacle. In Exodus 31 we read of only the most gifted of craftsmen to perform the work.
The same with Solomon’s methods in building the temple many years later. In 1 Kings 6:7 we read how it was all so well planned and executed that a holy silence ruled over the construction site with not one tool making a sound.
The Lord got the absolute best. The same is true for us in our worship of the Lord as His Church. Just like it was the Lord who provided the skill of the craftsmen of the tabernacle, and provided the wisdom to Solomon for such expertise in the building of the temple, so the Lord gifts each of us to contribute with excellence to the worship of Him and the edification of one another at Church.
Are you going to give the best of what God has enabled you with, or left-overs? Will you prepare for worship on Sunday, or just show up and hang around? Will you be mentally alert, or catching up on ‘much needed sleep’? Will you structure your life this weekend for Church, or show up with the noise of the weekend still clanging for attention?
In a sermon entitled “The Best Donation” from 2 Corinthians 8:5, Charles Spurgeon reminded the believers that if it is right for anyone to refrain from giving all to the church, it would be right for all to do so, and then there would be no church, there would be no witness to the world, and we can add, there would be no true worship of God.