1 Samuel 15

Saul was commanded to take out the Amalekites and give ALL over to sacrifice. They were to keep nothing for themselves. Everything needed to be destroyed. Instead, they kept out the best spoils for themselves and burned the rest.

Saul’s downfall was disobedience as a leader. He was commanded by God to do something and he thought he was above that command. He then blamed his own people for the mistake. Talk about corrupt leadership!

The point of sacrifice is not sacrifice. It is obedience. We can question why God wants us to give something to him. We can question all day long “how much” we should give. At the end of the day, we need to ask the bigger question: “Am I doing what God has asked of me?”

Don’t give yourself the best and leave God the leftovers. If it is financial giving, give it to him first. If it is time, give him the best. Don’t leave him the scraps. If you know the Lord is asking more than a dollar from you and you throw a dollar in the plate on Sunday, you’ve given him the leftovers. The scraps.

At the end of a game, if one team is blowing out the other, the dominant team will often send in second and third string players to “mop up.” Sometimes they call it “garbage time.”

Sometimes we know the Lord is calling us to prayer or to service and we give him “garbage time” instead of “prime time.”

We talk about “God’s BEST” for our lives… and we are SOOOO ready to receive that. How about we talk about OUR best for God’s presence? Are we ready to GIVE that?