June 23, 2022
Daily Devotion:
“Nothing but the Best... "
Numbers 18:29
New International Version
29 You must present as the Lord’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’
God is a practical, common sense God. If we look closely enough, we can see that what God commands by way of moral law, or doctrine, or worship ritual usually has some purpose other than his simply being arbitrary or capricious. We are not being asked to jump through hoops merely for God's amusement. Down to the last detail, what God asks us to do is ultimately for our own good. The typical rules even earthly parents lay down don't just come out of thin air. Usually they are directed at some higher good. Would we expect anything less from our heavenly Father? So it should not be surprising that the Israelites are instructed to tithe in support of the priests and Levites, who are too busy doing God's work in the sanctuary to support themselves otherwise. It's a practical problem solved nice and easy, done and dusted.
But then we discover that God requires the Levites themselves to give a tenth of the tithe! It can't be needed for support of the work in the tabernacle. In this case does God perhaps have in mind something beyond the practical? The clue seems to be in the requirement that the Levites are to present “the best and holiest part" to the Lord. This was also true of the tithe and required of each sacrifice brought before the Lord. The best and the holiest. Always the best and the holiest. Is it just a matter of vanity that God would demand nothing but the finest for himself? Or is he still being his usual practical self-all for our ultimate good? In one fell stroke, to give of our best to God teaches obedience, sacrifice, nobility, prioritizing, selflessness, and a host of other important lessons. What could be more practical?
The question beyond mere practicality is: Of all that I give to God today, will it truly be the best and holiest?
