The Blind, the Lame or the Slop?

The Scriptures teach that Christians need to provide hard work
and sacrifice in order to please God. Nothing is going to come
easy in this life if Satan is involved.

Too often though we find folks trying to cut corners when it
comes to their relationship with God. In Malachi's time, the
people tried to offer God that which was lame or injured: "And
if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, it is not evil? and if ye
offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?..." (Malachi 1:8)
Rather than give God the best and suffer the loss, these folks
tried to offer unto God that which they didn't want or couldn't
use. In this way, they refused to sacrifice to please God.

In the book "J.D. Tant, Texas Preacher", Yater Tant tells of a
similar situation during the life of his father. Times were hard
for many preachers in the early parts of this century. Many
worked the spring and summer months at odd jobs in order to make
ends meet and allow them some funds to hold meetings in different
places. It seems J. D. was holding a meeting for a congregation
in Arkansas during the fall of 1926. The church paid him, after
his expenses for travelling, about 4 dollars for the week. When
they asked him to return the next year, he said he would if they
could provide better support. They said they were poor and could
not. He asked for a commitment. There were 25 or 30 families in
the congregation and all were farmers. Could they each hold back
one small pig from their litters, feed the pig kitchen slop and
then give him the pigs the next year? If so, he'd come in a truck
and take the pigs as his pay. Several men got together and figured
that these pigs, if fatten that way and sold at market price, would
be "... five times as much as this church has ever paid for a gospel
meeting." (page 409) Tant's reply was short and curt: "Before God,
brethren if you aren't willing even to give the slop off your kitchen
tables to support the gospel of Christ, then you can keep your
slop ... and I'll go back to Tennessee." (page 409) When they
realized the value of the pigs fattened on slop, they could not
part with them. They wanted the time and teaching of brother Tant,
but not the sacrifice involved to help support him.

Putting it mildly, all that we have is slop! It is useless to
God, for He does not need our money or food or material wealth.
What He desires is our service and love. Sometimes that means we
are to give up the things of this world that we may honor Him. If
not, we are not worthy of being called His children, and in the
end all we will have are the blind, the lame or the slop. [JW]