My Offering

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also love you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2 Standing in my kitchen, I was praying that what I was putting together for a friend would convey what I want her to know, that I so deeply appreciate her. As my mind spun around what can I add? What would she really like? Is this enough? I had to laugh. That is so often my prayer, “Lord, I don’t have anything to give. I don’t give enough. What can I possibly do?” and on, and on and…. Well, you get it, I’m sure. May I just say, GOD IS GOOD! (Yes, I know the caps mean I’m shouting. Yes, I am shouting!) While I was preparing my “gift” I was thinking about how often I feel that I don’t do enough, for friends, for family, for my hubby and certainly for God. I had music playing, another pretty typical occurrence. The Third Day song, “Offering” started to play and I started singing along. The song was half over when I stopped, realizing what I was singing. “This is my offering.” “I will give you my life.” I looked around my kitchen and at first, I thought this was God’s way of showing me that what I was doing for my friend was enough. She wasn’t expecting anything, so whatever I was doing was going to be a blessing. Then the bigger picture hit. I was doing for my friend because she is a blessing to me. She is a gift. It’s an offering to her, yes but I was giving to her also as a way of thanking God for her. Never wanting to give a small gift God then turned my mind to the place where I feel least adequate, with Him. There’s a lyric in that same song that says, “I stand before You at this altar, so many have given you more.” Now that one I get. That hits home. In His amazing grace God showed me that I do give Him my all, not all the time of course but more often than I realize. I stood in my kitchen and hit the replay button. I sang that song with all that I have. I am the offering that I have to give to Jesus. It’s small potatoes in comparison to what He’s given me but to Him, it’s exactly what He wants. If you don’t know the song or even if you do… I highly recommend listening to it. It’s a great reminder that if we will give back what has been given to us, God is faithful to bless us by using us to bless others. In other words, He will happily accept our offering, no matter how small it may seem to us, it is the perfect gift to God.