Snapshot #7 from "Crazy Love"

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting brief snippets from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." These will be brief thoughts from the book that I found particularly challenging and thought-provoking. This excerpt is from pages 88-90.

"God wants our best, deserves our best, demands our best. From the beginning of time, He has been clear that some offerings are acceptable to Him and others are not. Just ask Cain, upon who’s offering God “did not look with favor” (Genesis 4:5).

For years I gave God leftovers and felt no shame. I simply took my eyes off the Scripture and instead compared myself to others. The bones I threw at God had more meat on them than the bones others threw, so I figured I was doing fine.

It is easy to fill ourselves up with other things and then give God whatever is left. Hosea 13:6 says, “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” God gets a scrap or two only because we feel guilty for giving Him nothing. A mumbled three minute prayer at the end of the day, when we are already half asleep. Two crumpled –up dollar bills thrown as an after-thought into the church’s fund for the poor. Fetch, God! (88-89)

Leftovers are not merely inadequate; from God’s point of view (and lest we forget, His is the only one who matters), they’re evil. Let’s stop calling it “a busy schedule” or “bills” or “forgetfulness.” It’s called evil." (90)