This morning I had the pleasure of speaking to the students of Margaretta who came to the Christian Community for Youth breakfast hosted by the Congregational Church in Castalia.  As I was seeking from God on what to speak for the few minutes I had to speak, I was clearly hearing a direction toward doing your very best.  So I now pose the question to you, what does it mean to give your very best?

My mind went to 1 Samuel 17 on the story of King David as a boy.  What we know is that he was a ruddy boy with beautiful eyes and very handsome (1 Sam. 16:12).  We also know that David was a skillful musician, a man of valor, a warrior who was prudent in speech because the people already knew the Lord was with him (1 Sam. 16:18).  Being the youngest of his brothers, David was somewhere in his early teen years at this time.  David was the errand boy given the lowly job of tending sheep, what the youngest one does while the older and stronger brothers are given the bigger and more important jobs, even serving in the army.

This time in David’s life is of extreme importance.  It was in the wilderness with the sheep where David learned how to give his very best, which I am convinced was something he learned from his father Jesse.  If you do something, you do the very best you can.  As David was watching over the sheep, when one came in danger he did his very best to protect the sheep.  When a lion or bear came after the sheep, he didn’t just sling a rock or two at it to scare it off to protect the sheep and call that his best even if the predator got one.  But when they got one of the sheep, he went after the lion and bear and took it down releasing the sheep and then killing the lion or bear when it rose up against him.  As a teenage boy, he would take down a full grown lion by his hands to save one sheep.  I would say he gave his very best to save the sheep.

I don’t believe it was just giving his very best at protecting sheep in the wilderness.  I believe he played the harp because it was worshipful to God, so he played his very best for God in the wilderness where God was the only one in the audience.  So what did all this “giving his very best” get him?  First came a place in the King’s house, because he was the best harp player around.  He became the best harp player by playing the harp with his very best to God.  Then God gave him the people of Israel and Judah when David had the opportunity to slay one giant.  After killing one giant the people gave David credit for killing 10,000 while only giving King Saul credit of a 1,000.  David first gave his very best in the wilderness, which prepared him for and gave him the necessary confidence to slay the giant, then God gave the best to David.

I also get the same picture of a scene from the movie “Facing the Giants” where this character named Brock was challenged on what his best was.  The football coach was simply asking Brock to give his best, when Brock thought he was already.  The coach blind-folded Brock and asked him to do a task that was extremely challenging, asking that all he wanted from Brock was his very best.  So Brock started crawling on his hands and feet from one goal line with another player lying on his back and couldn’t stop until his very best was fulfilled.  By being blindfolded there was no “goal” to stop at, no place to have a satisfying completion in the task and calling it his best; it was a “very best” request.  And in doing so, Brock accomplished at least 3 times more than he ever fathomed was possible when he fell across the goal line 100 yards from where he started.

So the question I ask this morning is, are you giving God your very best “blind faith,” a faith that doesn’t stop when a sense of accomplishment has been met?  Are you giving God what you consider to be your best?  Or are you giving God your very best?  There is a difference.  To receive the best, first give your very best to God.    

I desire to live a Faith-Full life, for His glory alone; giving God my very best.