There is an old hymn written by Mrs. Charles Barnard, “Give of your best to the Master; Give Him first place in your heart; Give Him first place in your service, consecrate every part.” What powerful words flowed from the pen of the writer; obviously someone who was in the service of the Master.
“Give of your best to the Master." How does this fit into our life today? Truthfully, few give their “best” to Jesus. We might give Him a place in our heart, but is it the best? Have we invited Him in and then left Him alone as we hurried on about our business? How terrible that would be. Jesus is the honored guest and we must treat Him as a guest.
Imagine inviting someone to come and stay with you and you give them a big hug and are so happy to have them there. Then you settle them into a nice guest room; making sure they are comfortable. Then you go on about your business; going to work and not even saying good morning to your guest. Perhaps you fix you meals, but don’t ask the guest to the table. Evening comes and you settle back in your comfortable chair to watch a few hours of your favorite programs; is your guest still in his room? Bedtime comes and without a thought you get in bed, turn out the lights and go to sleep. It might have been nice to at least tap on the door and ask your guest if there was anything he needed.
A week passes by and you still haven’t seen the houseguest or talked with him. Now it’s Sunday so you tap on his door and invite him to come out and go to church with you. There is no answer, so you open the door and “Surprise!” there is no one there. Wonder when he left? This seems to be what many people do; invited Jesus into their heart and then just go on about their business. They are so busy there is not time for conversation with the Lord. I’ve heard some say, “I’m too busy; He will have to contact me. It’s His place to come after me, not me going after Him. Guess what? That isn’t how it works. Just coming to church on Sunday’s isn’t going to keep a relationship with God. That is our job. We need to be out there in the work world and among friends and share the love of God with them.
Eph. 6:5 “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ”... Our duty, as a believer, is to perform as though we are serving Christ, even though we are working for man, whether that person is a Christian or not. If Jesus was here in the flesh, wouldn’t you do your very best work for Him?
How can we give our best when we might have higher aspirations of our own? “Be content with such things as you have." (Heb. 13:5) It appears then, that discontent comes by choice. If we are discontent because we believe we do not have the abilities to do a good job, we will find that Christ will enable us to make it. “We can do all things through Christ” who strengthens us. If God has other plans for us, He will bring them to light.
We find in the book of Esther, a reminder that “the steps of a righteous person, are ordered by the Lord” (Ps. 37:23). Esther, a Jew, came from obscurity to fame as the wife and queen of King Ahasuerus Syria
We, too, must give of our very best wherever we are and whatever we do. Who knows but that we were brought to where we are in life for a time such as this.
I have a sign in my home that reads, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 23:15) That means whether at my work place, my fun times, my home; wherever I am at and whatever I am doing, I have chosen to serve the Lord. After all, I plan on giving Him my best, wherever I may be. How about you; is He first in your life and in your service?
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