041708

The following is from A Slice of Infinity:

Giving and Taking What is God’s
Ravi Zacharias

When I was about 12 or 13 years old, I was asked by our Sunday School
teacher if I would be willing to play Joseph in the Nativity mime. I was
on the verge of saying no to this request, for most of the Christmas story
was hidden under the weight of ceremony for me and I really did not know
what all that meant. But then I was told what I would need to do.
Basically, I would walk Mary to the altar with her arm in mine, stand
there, turn around, have her put her arm in mine, and then walk out. No
words, no theological insight, no big acting skill needed. When I met who
was going to play Mary, I decided this would be quite a thrill.

I arrived at the church early and was walking around with time to kill.
At the altar, I happened upon a silver bowl with wafers in it on a table.
Having very little knowledge of what this could be, I took a handful of
those wafers and enjoyed them as I admired all the great art and statuary
in that fine cathedral. Suddenly I saw the vicar coming out of the vestry
and walking straight towards me. I politely greeted him and continued my
enjoyment of the biscuits in hand. He stopped, stared, and quite out of
control, shouted, “What are you doing?” As surprised by his outburst as
he was at my activity, I said, “I am Joseph in the Nativity mime.” That
evidently was not what he was asking. “What is that in your hand?” he
demanded. As he stared me down from head to toe, he could see that there
were more in my pocket, too. I received the most incomprehensible
tongue-lashing to which I had ever been subjected. The word that he kept
repeating was the word “sacrilege.” I chose never to check out its
meaning for I was sure this was the end of the line for me, having done
something I did not even know how to pronounce.

Years later, I could not help but chuckle when I was reading G. Campbell
Morgan’s definition of sacrilege. He said that it is normally defined as
taking something that belongs to God and using it profanely. We all know
the instance in the book of Daniel when Belshazzar took the vessels in the
temple and used it for his night of carousing and blasphemy. That was a
sacrilegious use. But sacrilege, said Morgan, does not only consist of
such profane use. In its worst form, it consists of taking something and
giving it to God when it means absolutely nothing to you.
That was the charge God brought against his people when He said, “You
bring the lame and the blind and the sick as an offering, is this not
evil?” (See Malachi 1:8).

Conversely, giving all that is your best to God is worship at its core.
This cannot be done without the sacrifice of the acclaim and adulation of
the world. If we were to only pause for a few moments and take stock, we
would see how close we all come to sacrilege each day. Do we give God the
best of our time? Do we give God the best of our energies? Do we give God
the best of our thinking? Do we give God the best of our wealth? Do we
give God the best of our dreams and plans? Or does the world get our best
and God merely gets the leftovers? As we look to the days of Pentecost,
remembering the one who came among us, taught us his mission, and then
sent the Spirit to guide us in it, might our lives echo the heartfelt
words of Charles Wesley:

O Thou who camest from above
The pure celestial fire to impart.
Kindle a flame of sacred love
On the mean altar of my heart!

There let it for Thy glory burn
With inextinguishable blaze,
And trembling to its source return
In humble prayer and fervent praise.

Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire
To work and speak and think for Thee;
Still let me guard the holy fire,
And still stir up Thy gift in me.

Ready for all thy perfect will,
My acts of faith and love repeat,
Till death Thine endless mercies seal,
And make the sacrifice complete.(1)

Ravi Zacharias is founder and president of Ravi Zacharias International
Ministries.

I know I fall far short everyday of giving God my all and everything, but lately, I think I'm finally finally learning to accept His grace and love more humbly instead of living in a constant state of guilt for not living up to what I think He wants from me. Does that make sense?