Giving your Best

As we have written before, God is giving us opportunities daily to minister to others in need.  We have been so blessed to do His work and look forward to serving "the least of these."  Friday afternoon was no exception, though I (Daniel) learned a huge lesson in humility, sacrifice and service to others.  We were home late Friday afternoon when a young girl (around 20 yrs old) came to our front gate and called for us to come out.  She began asking us for things in Spanish so Sarah came out to see what she needed.  She had 2 kids with her and told us that she had 2 more at home.  She then began asking us for food or anything else we could give because they had no food.  She even asked us for a baby bottle.  Sarah and I went to the kitchen and agreed immediately without hesitation that we needed to give her food and diapers.  The Lord put James 2:15-17 on our hearts immediately.  It says "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?  Even so, faith if it has no works, is dead, being by itself."

In the mean time, Thomas was asking us who was at the gate and what they wanted.  We explained to him that this family did not have any food and Mommy and Daddy were going to give them some food and diapers for the baby.  We packed a bag of food for her, gave her the rest of the diapers we had and went down to the gate to talk to her more.  We found out her name is Elena and her 2 children were Aaron and Ariel.  As we were talking, Thomas came and got me and said he wanted to give the little boy some of his toys.  I went with him to get them and he immediately picked out his favorite toy-- a Spiderman figure.  His Aunt Anne gave it to him for Christmas this past year and he plays with it all the time.  I tried to talk him into giving another toy just thinking that I would be preventing possible issues later when he truly realized it was gone.  He picked out 2 other toys and took them to the boy.  The boy was so excited to get toys and thanked us over and over.  As Sarah talked to Elena, little Ariel devoured 2 of the bananas that we had given them--he was so hungry.  After talking with Elena for a while, Sarah asked if she could pray for them and she agreed.  About that time Thomas came down with the Spiderman in hand and walked right over to the boy and gave it to him.  I was immediately convicted like never before as my son desired to give his favorite toy ("his best") to this little boy and I had tried to convince him otherwise.  As the family walked away blessed, the thought hit me--am I not willing to give my best?  With tears in my eyes I escaped to the bathroom to cry tears of repentance.  "Lord, I haven't given my best, I've held back and I'm sorry."  Then the thought came to me, what if God didn't give His best?  In the Old Testament, not just any sacrifice would do--it had to be a perfect, spotless sacrifice--"the best."  And this is what God gave to us in sending His Son, Jesus, to die for us...HIS BEST... 

As Christians, we should follow our Heavenly Father's example and give our best to those in need.  James 1 says as we are doers of God's Word, He will bless us in all we do (verse 25).   Verse 27 ends with "Pure and undefiled  religion in the sight of our God and Father is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."  Please join us in praying for Elena and so many others like her here in Costa Rica who have physical and spiritual needs. 

Here is a picture of Sarah with Elena and her boys:

                                                                                Sarah telling Thomas how proud she is of him for                                                                                   giving his favorite toy away...