GIVING OUR BEST TO GOD.
God asks every man to give to Him his best. It is God's way, God's
undeviating way with each individual to say to him, "Whatever in
yourself or in your possessions is best, that I ask you to devote to
Me."
Students of God, in all ages, have recognized this fact. They have
understood that a human life cannot wholly follow God unless all the
holdings of that life are consecrated to God. They have also understood
that a man's "all" includes his best, and that unless that best is
God's, the man's real heart and the man's strongest purposes are not
God's.
Abraham realized these truths. Accordingly, when Abraham, pondering his
personal relation to God, asked himself whether he was a perfectly
devoted man, the thought of his son Isaac crept into his mind. Isaac was
his only real son. He dearly loved him. He was the supreme treasure of
his heart. Abraham's hopes centered in Isaac. His ambitions and his joys
were bound up in that son and in that son's life.
Was Abraham willing to give to God his best treasure, his Isaac? That
was the question Abraham found himself called upon to face. In facing it
he was affected by the theories of consecration that prevailed among the
surrounding nations. Those theories asserted that consecration meant
sacrifice--that to consecrate a lamb to a god meant to slay the lamb
upon the altar of that god, and that to consecrate a child to Jehovah
would mean to slay the child upon the altar of Jehovah.
As he thought on these things and knew God wished him to give to Him his
best, there came to him a conviction that spoke to his heart with all
the authority of the voice of God. "Abraham, if you are ready to give Me
your best, you will take Isaac, your son, your only son, whom you love,
and in Moriah offer him there for a burnt-offering."
That was the most searching command that could have entered his soul. It
asked of him the sacrifice of the dearest object of his life.
Nobly, even sublimely, did he meet the test. Believing, according to
the ideas prevalent about him, that perfect devotion to God and to God's
kingdom called him to lift his fatherly hand and plunge the knife of
death into the heart of his child, Abraham lifted his hand for the
sacrifice. In that act God, who ever stood ready to correct Abraham's
misconception of method, had evidence that before Him was an absolutely
loyal soul. Here was one who to all generations might deservedly be
called, "The father of the faithful." Accordingly, with the man who
would give Him his best and who thus became a worthy example for all
mankind, God made a covenant; "In Abraham and in his seed all the
nations of the earth should be blessed."
This impressive scene heads the very beginning of the salvation of the
race. It is the prelude to the definite record of the world's
redemption. It ushers in that line of history that starting with Abraham
advances through a chosen people until a Christ is come and in Him and
through Him and for Him all people are asked to give their best to God
and to the world's help.
What is a person's best? Sometimes the question can easily be answered.
In Malachi's time, when people were bringing their offerings to the
temple, and those offerings were the blind, the lame, and the sick of
the flock, it was evident that these imperfect creatures were not the
best. The best were the clear-eyed, the strong-limbed, and the
vigorous-bodied sheep that were left at home. Of two talents or five
talents or ten talents, all in the possession of the same owner, it is
clear that the ten talents are the best. The thing that to a man's own
heart is the dearest is to him his best. The thing that for the world's
betterment is the most helpful is to that world the man's best. Usually
these two things are the same thing; a man's dearest treasure
consecrated to the world's uplift is the best thing he can give to the
world's good. Whatever carries a man's undivided and enthusiastic heart
into usefulness is the best that he can offer to God and to God's world.
For a man is at his best when in utter self-abnegation his heart is
enlisting every power of mind and body in devotion to a worthy cause.
Moses was good as a shepherd. The rabbins love to tell of his protection
of sheep in time of danger and of his provision for them in time of
need. But Moses was at his best when, under God's call, he conquered his
fear and reluctance, resolved to do what he could to rescue Israel from
cruel Pharaoh, and throwing his heart into the effort, undertook the
redemption of his race. Joshua was good as a servant and as a spy, but
he was at his best when he took the lead of armies, won glorious
victories, and wisely administered government. Paul was good when he sat
at the feet of Gamaliel and studied well, and when, grown older, he was
an upright citizen of Judea, but Paul was at his best when, under the
inspiration of a cause that inflamed his whole life, he pleaded on Mar's
Hill, wrote to Roman saints, and triumphed over suffering in prison.
It is not easy for a youth to know what is his best. He is uncertain of
his aptitudes. He is not sure that he _has_ special aptitudes. His
marked characteristics have not become clear to his own eye, if they
have become clear to the eyes of others; nor does he understand what
power is latent in his distinctive characteristics, whose existence he
is beginning to suspect. Such a youth need not, must not, be discouraged
and think he has no "best." He has a "best" that in God's sight
individualizes him, a "best" that God wishes consecrated to him.
Whatever is most precious to that youth, whatever he least likes to have
injured and most likes to have prosper, that is the element of his life
that he should lay at God's feet. If the most treasured possession of
his being is thus given to God, God in the due time will develop its
aptitudes. He will provide a place or an hour when those aptitudes shall
be given opportunity. No Moses--competent for mighty tasks--is ever
allowed to remain unsummoned, provided such competency is wholly given
to God. There are many marvels in human history, but no marvel is
greater than the coming of the hour of opportunity to every man to do
his best and to reveal his best. It is not so much a question of what is
our best, as it is whether we are willing to consecrate the thing we
prize most to the service of God's world.
That world _needs_ our best. The problems of human society and the
wants of men can never be met by the cheap. What costs the giver little,
accomplishes little with the receiver. Skin deep beneficences never
penetrate beyond the skin of those helped. The woes of the world lie far
beneath the skin. When we study them, we are amazed by their depth; we
see how futile many of the efforts of mankind to relieve them are. The
failure of so many of these efforts causes some souls to question
whether it is possible for any one ever to relieve humanity's needs.
That question will always suggest a negative answer, so long as the
superficial, the secondary, and the merely good are brought to the
relief of mankind. It is only when the best that an individual can give
or society can provide is offered men that men will be redeemed.
The existence in our world to-day of so much sin and sorrow is most
significant. It exists and will continue to exist so long as we bring
anything less than our best to its help. There was no cure for the
lepers of Palestine so long as men threw them coins that they could
easily spare, gave them food that cost them little self-denial, and said
under their breath, "How pitiable those lepers are!" But when One came
who gave _Himself_ for them, who risked being put out of synagogue and
temple and all society by _touching_ them, who even ceremonially defiled
Himself with their defilement, and thus did the best He possibly could
do for them, the lepers were healed.
The best men in the world are not too good for the world's needs. The
streets of cities and the lanes of towns will never be purified by any
instrumentalities of usefulness that are less than the best. The heathen
world has not a village in which the wisest, noblest, purest man or
woman will not have to battle hard before the work to be done can be
done. Inexpensive apparatus may avail where operations are simple, but
the most expensive apparatus that can be found is required where
operations are intensely complicated.
It sometimes seems as though even intelligent people had not
comprehended these facts. They talk of the foolishness of casting pearls
before swine. But the woes of humanity are not the woes of swine. They
are the woes of men and women in bondage to wrong--and pearls are none
too good to set before them that thereby the beauty of life may be seen
by them and thereby that earthly condition of society whose every gate
is one single pearl of purity, may be desired by them. If in a home we
cannot be a comfort to the sorrowful, or in a school be an inspiration
to the laggard, or in business be a cheer to the discouraged, without
giving the very best out of our hearts that we can give, how shall we
expect that the great mass of evil congested in dense centers and
compacted through ancient custom, will ever be purified, unless we take
the best resources we can command, in ourselves and in others, and bring
those best resources face to face, yes, heart to heart, to that mass of
evil. The world will never be saved until we offer our Isaacs upon the
altar of its needs.
That world _deserves_ our best. We never can repay to this world the
good this world has done us. The richest man on the earth is the most
heavily indebted to his fellows. All our knowledge, culture, and safety
are gifts from others. Our schools are the product of men who for a
hundred generations have thought and labored for us. "Every ship that
comes to America got its chart from Columbus. Every novel is a debtor to
Homer." The more of treasure any man has, the more of toil others have
borne for him. The best elements of our homes, our business, and our
civilization reach us through the tears and blood of others. Were the
man who has two hundred millions of dollars to attempt to meet his
indebtedness to the world by the expenditure of that sum in charities,
he would not _begin_ to discharge his indebtedness. Every single benefit
we enjoy cost many men their best.
The nobler our type of manhood the gladder we are to acknowledge this
indebtedness and the gladder we are in our present place and time to
give our best for others.
"Fame is what you have taken,
Character is what you give;
When to this truth you waken,
Then you begin to live."
Something of fineness and of greatness is lacking in the person who
thinks himself above his neighbors and their needs. The better and the
larger a man becomes, the readier he is to declare himself a brother to
suffering humanity and to feel that no sacrifice he can make of himself
is too costly if thereby he can elevate others. It is "angelic" to be a
ministering spirit sent forth to minister to those who may be made heirs
of salvation.
The highest examples possible to our emulation confirm this theory of
the gift of the best. Christ Himself withheld not any treasures He
possessed, but He gave them all and gave them cheerily for foolish
humanity. He laid upon the altars of the world's need His best wisdom,
His best power, His best glory. He even laid upon that altar His own
precious life, and He laid it there, in all its spotlessness, subject to
the very curses of men.
So, too, did the Father unhesitatingly give His best for the world's
welfare. He gave His Son, His only begotten Son, in whom He was well
pleased, to save the lost. He gave that Son to any and to every pain
involved in the cheering of the sorrowful and the strengthening of the
weak. Not even from Gethsemane, no, nor from Calvary, did He withhold
His best. What Abraham was ready to do, but what God spared him from
doing, that God Himself did--and God's Isaac was stretched upon the
cross and died there a sacrifice.
It is the gift of the best that touches the heart of the recipient.
Superficial kindnesses are impotent, but kindnesses that involve the
surrender of the giver's treasures sway the soul of the recipient. This
is not always true, but it is true as a principle. "They will reverence
My Son." Yes, though they pay no heed to mere servants and prophets, and
though some unappreciative men slay even the Son, other men, the great
multitude of men, when they realize that the Son is God's best
possession, and realize that in His gift of Christ God exhausts the
treasury of His heart, will reverence His Son. The cross is sure to win
the whole world to God, because the cross stands for God's gift of His
best. God's way of doing good should be our way. It is the only way that
has assurance of success. Our wisest learning, our best possessions, our
choicest scholars, our dearest children, our brightest hours, our
largest abilities--all must be given to the service of humanity, if the
needs of humanity are to be met.
Look where we will, the souls of men are waiting for help. Thousands
upon thousands of lives will not suffice to provide this help. Millions
upon millions of dollars may be expended, and still, in this land and in
other lands, there will be the destitute, the afflicted, and the
enslaved. It was not Abraham's gift of his sheep nor of his shekels that
made him the forerunner of the Christ, but it was his gift of Isaac. Our
gift of the best alone will put us in line with Abraham and Christ, and
make our service a power for salvation.
Only a large-hearted life will give its best to God. Small hearts cling
to their best treasures. Achan puts God's name on every object found in
fallen Jericho excepting the most valuable; that he hides in his tent.
Saul devotes to Jehovah all the cattle conquered from the Ammonites but
the best; those he reserves for himself. It was the mark of the
greatness of her nature that when to the widow there came a man of God
asking for food, and her meal was only enough to bake a cake for her son
and herself ere they died, she took that meal, obedient to what she
considered to be a call from God, and made of it, her best, her all, a
cake for the man of God. God honored that gift and paid back into her
own life the blessing of His unfailing provision. He always honors any
such gift. A man like Joseph gives his best and keeps giving his best to
God all his days, and God never suffers Joseph to lose his spiritual
vigor. But if Solomon only gives his best in his early life, and
withholds his best in his later life, that later life becomes weak and
meager.
The proof to which God put Abraham is the most soul-searching proof that
ever comes into human lives. If we answer to it as did Abraham, we are
immediately brought into a new and sweeter relation to God. God
withholds no blessing from him who offers Him his best. God enters into
a dearer and closer fellowship with such an one. He declares to him that
His name is "Jehovah-Jireh," "The Lord will provide," assuring the man
that though he does make great sacrifices for God, God will provide for
him abundantly more than he has thus sacrificed. The young ruler went
away from Christ sorrowful when he declined to give Christ his best, but
no soul ever can be sorrowful that gives its best to Christ. "You shall
have a hundred-fold more in this world and in the world to come life
everlasting." It was because the disciples gave their best to Christ
that they became so efficient in his service. "What things were gain to
me, those I counted loss for Christ." Accordingly Paul became mighty to
the upbuilding of the kingdom of his Master and was always joyous.
Let every one look into his life and find his best. "What is it I prize
most? What is it that gives me largest place among my fellows?" Then let
every one consecrate that best to God. That best may be the enthusiasm
of our youth, or the wisdom of our maturity, or the wealth of our age.
It may be a child in our home, or our hope of advancement, or some
special attractiveness we possess. Whatever our best may be, God asks us
to consecrate it to Him. Whoever so consecrates his best will find God
dearer, life sweeter, and service richer than ever before.
"There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are pure and true;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best shall come back to you.
"Give love, and love to your heart will flow,
A strength in your utmost need;
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed.
"For life is the mirror of king and slave,
'Tis just what you are and do;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you."
Transcriber's Notes:
Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.
The word "repentence" on page 149 was changed to "repentance."
End of Project Gutenberg's Living for the Best, by James G. K. McClure