EXPLORE THE BIBLE:
Give your best to God, and
he'll return it blessed
___
Leviticus 22-25
___By Mark Bumpus
___First Baptist Church, Mineral Wells
___A beloved old hymn says, "Give of your best to the Master; Give him first place in your heart; Give him first place in your service, Consecrate ev'ry part." To do this, you must:
___ Give your best gifts to God in worship (Leviticus 22:18-21). Our temptation is to hold back, to give half-heartedly or to give something no longer of value to us. It costs 
us little to give hand-me-down clothes. This was the temptation of the Israelites. God warned them, if a defective offering was given, "it will not be accepted for you" (22:20). The produce market may put the best strawberries on top, but Jesus gives his best throughout (John 2:1-11). We must do likewise.
___ Worship God regularly in public and private (Leviticus 23:2-4). If you teach Sunday School, but do not attend worship, you need to consider the harmful example it sets for your students and others. Even children are perceptive. My little girl once asked me, "Why doesn't my Sunday School teacher stay for church?" She scanned the congregation for the teacher she respected.
___It really inspires the pastor and other church members when they have to wade through a hall of departing Sunday School members like a salmon trying to swim upstream. (Hope it isn't my preaching!)
___ There are appointed times of worship (23:2). God calls us to "a holy convocation" (23:3). It is for your benefit. Someone said, "Seven days without God makes one weak!"
___And private worship. My life has been deeply influenced by the memory of my seminary roommate, Steve Holcombe, rising every morning before the rest of us, going to the couch, reading his Bible and praying as the day began. Jesus recognized the impact of spiritual discipline (Mark 1:35).
___ Enter worship with a humble spirit (Leviticus 23:27-29). How do you and your children approach the sanctuary? Is it just another room or is it the place where we meet God in worship? Enter with humility (23:29), awe and wonder. No cups. No caps. Bum Phillips, coach of the Houston Oilers, wouldn't wear his cowboy hat on the sidelines when they played football in the Astrodome because, "Mama told me to not wear my hat in the house!" We need to recultivate a reverence for the house of God.
___And when you leave, what do you leave in your wake--chewing gum wrappers, scribbled notes, worship bulletins? Leaving the sanctuary better than you found it is a part of reverence. John Barnett was my head athletic trainer at Baylor when I traveled with Baylor's football team. He had trained under Frank Medina at the University of Texas. On road trips, we had to leave the dressing room cleaner than we found it. At Pittsburgh, a contract laborer was astounded when we cleaned the dressing room before boarding the plane. We made him some easy money!
___ Strive for the genuine humility of the tax-collector (Luke 18:9-14). Avoid the split vision of the Pharisee in prayer who had one eye focused on himself in self-congratulations (18:11) and the other eye on "others in contempt" (18:9,11). The Pharisee's worship never reached God.
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