Our Best

Hear ye the Master’s call, “Give Me thy best!” For, be it great or small, that is His test.
Do then the best you can, not for reward, Not for the praise of men, but for the Lord.

Chorus
Every work for Jesus will be blest, But He asks from everyone his best.
Our talents may be few, these may be small, But unto Him is due our best, our all.

Wait not for men to laud, heed not their slight; Winning the smile of God brings its delight!
Aiding the good and true ne’er goes unblest, All that we think or do, be it the best.

Night soon comes on a pace, day hastens by; Workman and work must face testing on high.
Oh, may we in that day find rest, sweet rest, Which God has promised those who do their best.

I usually will hear back from a reader of the “Hymn of the Week” emails who tells me they have never heard a certain hymn that I have done. There have been times where I myself have not been familiar with certain hymns, but have found it in one of my old hymnals or hymn devotion books.  Although there are some universally known hymns (Amazing Grace, Blessed Assurance, etc.), most of the time there is someone who has never heard a particular song I send out.  There are, however, a couple of people on my email list that typically are familiar with most hymns that I do – My mom and my Pastor.  It has been a challenge to “stump” them.  Don’t know if this is a sign of age or spiritual maturity (just kidding).  My Pastor, however, stumped me recently with this week’s particular hymn, “Our Best,” but once I found the lyrics online, I knew I had to share this one.

I like the principle behind this hymn – the principle that the Lord requires the same thing from all of us – our best.  Now there might be a difference between the results of your best and the results of my best in certain areas, but the standard for each of us is the same.  My wife Sheri’s best singing performance will be significantly better than my best singing performance, but the standard for both of us is the same – to do our best.  It is similar to the principle of tithing.  All tithe gifts are not equal, but the % we are supposed to give is equal for everyone.  I have heard the phrase in the past that says “Not equal giving, but equal sacrifice” and I think that is definitely a Biblical principle, and this hymn reinforces that concept.

Couple of phrases worth commenting on:

• Do then the best you can, not for reward – Probably one of the more convicting verses in Scripture for me is “Whatsoever you do, in word or in deed, do it as unto the Lord.”  That Scripture really doesn’t give us any wiggle room to do give less than a 100% effort in everything we do.  When it relates to work, the Bible teaches us work not for men, but as unto the Lord.  When it comes to education, we are commanded to “Study to show thyself approved, a workman that needed not to be ashamed…”  So we aren’t given the flexibility to work hard only when the reward is great.  We are commanded to do our best.  The Lord has high expectations for all of us, and this hymn is a reminder of that standard.

• Wait not for men to laud – There’s a funny thing about the praise of men.  It is rarely consistent.  It is typically given when you have done something that benefits someone else.  The same mouth that will praise you when you do something they like, will curse you for doing something they don’t like.  For those of you that are Tennessee Football fans, ask former head coach Phil Fulmer about the praise of men.  He won a National Championship and was beloved, and then lost too many times to Florida and Georgia and was run out of town.  The reality is that if we are working for the praise and adoration of men, we will rarely find lasting satisfaction in what we do.  However, if we do things that are honoring to God and we do our best, we can be confident that the Lord sees, knows, and will reward us for our actions.   I am not saying we shouldn’t give honor to whom honor is due because that is a Biblical truth as well.  What I am saying, though, is that if your require the praise of men to be faithful and to do your best, your motivation is all wrong. 

My wife typically fixes dinner for our family every night.  I will occasionally grill something on the grill, but for the most part, my wife takes care of feeding our family.  One thing she realized soon after we were married was the fact that I am not a fan of “leftovers.”  Even when I really love a certain meal, I just do not care for leftovers.  There’s something about leftovers that is just not as appetizing to me.  “Leftovers” for someone else might be a wonderful meal, but for me, they just don’t cut it.  Some folks in our church are reading through the Bible and we have recently been reading Leviticus.  One of the more common themes from that book is that God wanted the best for His sacrifices.  Not a blemished animal.  Not the runt of the litter.  Not what you no longer want or need.  No “leftovers.”  He required the first born, the “choicest,” the firstfruits from His followers.  This requirement that He had for the Hebrews, though, was not something He just required of them, but wasn’t willing to model Himself.  He gave us the best – the perfect sacrifice, the spotless Lamb.  The sacrifice of His only begotten Son was the greatest gift He could ever give. 

So ask yourself.  Am I giving God my best or my “leftovers?”  The following questions aren’t intended to be harsh, but are intended to make you think about your actions as they relate to giving God your best.  Do I pay all my other bills, and then give to the Church what is leftover?  Do I work 12-14 hour days, 6 days a week, but sleep in on Sundays because I need my rest?  Do I get up 2 hours before dawn to sit in a tree stand to hunt deer, and then skip Sunday School every week because it is too hard to get to Church that early?  Do I know every statistic about my favorite sports team, but can’t recall many other Scriptures besides John 3:16?  I hope the words of this hymn are a challenge for you to give your best in regard to your devotion to the Lord.  They definitely have been for me.