Our Best and God’s Glory

2 Chronicles 7:1

When Solomon finished praying, fire descended from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

Solomon had just prayed a very sincere and beautiful prayer to dedicate the luxurious temple he had built for God. Solomon gave the best he had in building the temple. His prayer acknowledged God for who He was and pleaded with God to hear and forgive the people who would come to the temple to seek Him. Solomon gave his best in search of God’s grace and mercy, and God accepted his offerings and sacrifices and filled the temple with His glory.

When we bring God our very best and dedicate it to Him out of a loving and grateful heart, He accepts our offering and displays His glory. If we serve Him in any way, it should be with our very best effort. If we give anything to Him, we should give Him our maximum and not the minimum. Those of us who are bargain shoppers are wired to try to get the very best value at the lowest price possible, but that is not how our service in God’s kingdom should work. God builds excellence in all that He does, and He desires to build an excellence in us that will properly display His glory. If we show the world a half-hearted response, a half-hearted view is what they receive of our God. He will shine His glory through us when we give Him our all.

The widow who gave all she had in the offering gave her very best. Although it was not as much as the Scribes and Pharisees could give, she gave with excellence. Our offering to Him exhibits our love, our respect, and our faith. Do we give our all, or do we give only what we think we need to give to get by? God is not looking for our minimal effort; He is looking for a heart that will give its best out of love, regardless of the amount. When we give our maximum effort, God blesses with a maximum return. He displays His glory through us.

My late husband was a perfectionist. He would spend hours on a project just to get one little thing right. If he ever did anything, you could expect him to do it well because he put his whole heart into it. This attitude and work ethic made him a great engineer. While he never met a deadline, he gave his very best to his work, and people took notice. He was never short of opportunities because his work was excellent. He had to learn to say, “No,” and I’m not sure he ever fully grasped that concept.

Think about the things God has called you to do. Are you serving Him with excellence? To do so might mean you have to give up something else. Do you have a goal or a dream you want to accomplish? What is standing in your way, and have you given your best effort to reaching that goal? Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and God will bless your very best effort when you give it to Him. We all need to see His glory fill our lives and bring new meaning to life again. If we give anything our best, shouldn’t it be to Him?

Have a blessed day!