As he toured the Detroit Auto Show with Scott Pelly during an interview that aired last Sunday on 60 Minutes, President Biden announced that the pandemic is over. His remarks have caused a stir, and reignited many of the debates that have divided our nation since the COVID-19 scourge began.

I am not sure what the President meant when he said that the pandemic was over. But I am sure that all of us can agree that whether it is over or not, we are all over it. I am masked out, zoomed out, and booster-shot out. LOL. The pandemic has drastically changed our lives, and all of us are still trying to figure out what the next normal is going to look like.

But despite its horrors and all that it shut down, the pandemic could not shut down the human spirit. Shortly after it began, I preached a message entitled “Pressure Is A Present” based on James 1:2-4, which says:

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

If nothing else, the pressure of the pandemic tested our faith, and all of us have a better grasp of who we really are, what we really believe, and what we really stand for. In difficult times, we truly see our true colors. And no one showed her true colors during the pandemic better than Dr. LaVerne Wimberly, an 82 year life-long member of Metropolitan Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Dr Wimberly went viral during the pandemic because she made a decision to dress up every Sunday to attend Zoom Church. LOL. Yes, you read that correctly. Every Sunday for more than two years, she got up and put on her Sunday best to sit in front of her computer and worship by Zoom. While most folks watched in bed, or sat at the kitchen table with holes in their bathrobes and sleep in their eyes, Dr. Wimberly got up every Sunday and gave God her best. I absolutely love her example, and appreciate her witness. She did not allow the pandemic to change, eliminate, or lower her standards.

But it isn’t just the pressure of pandemics that can cause you to change, eliminate, or lower your standards. Every day we are confronted with crises, challenges, and inconveniences that raise questions about who we truly are and what we truly value. Every day, we have to make a decision to stand with Joshua, who emphatically declared, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15). And perhaps even more important than choosing to serve the Lord is choosing how we serve the Lord!

I am a stickler for good customer service. Nothing spoils a meal faster than the attitude, manners, and overall demeanor of the person serving the meal. I have been known to give tips larger than the cost of the meal for great service. But I am also known to have left a penny as a tip on more than one occasion.( I know, I know—pray for me! LOL) In my view, there is nothing worse than unthoughtful, sloppy service. Bad service spoils the meal. Many of us claim to serve God. But do we serve God with our best?

Question: Who gets your best?

I’m sure you have heard the expression “put your best foot forward.” Well, when is the last time you put your best foot forward? When is the last time you tried your best? Worked your best? Looked your best? And who did you put your best foot forward for? Your job? Your boss? Your boo?

I want all of us to make the commitment to give God our best. Far too often, we give God what’s left. We do what Cain did. The scriptures tell us that Adam and Eve (the first human couple) had two children (Cain and Abel). On one occasion, both of them presented gifts to God. However, there was a crucial difference in the gifts that they presented. According to Genesis 4:3-5,

…Cain brought an offering to God from the produce of his farm. Abel also brought an offering, but from the firstborn animals of his herd, choice cuts of meat. God liked Abel and his offering, but Cain and his offering didn’t get his approval

Why didn’t Cain’s offering meet God’s approval? Because while Abel offered to God, “the choice cuts” from the “firstborn animals of his herd”, Cain just offered God produce. There was nothing special about Cain’s offering. His offering was presented with little forethought. There was nothing special or intentional about it. Conversely, Abel’s offering demonstrated a deep understanding of who he was offering his gift too. Abel gave God his best, and a result he received God’s approval. When we give God our best, God gives us his stamp of approval—and there is no greater blessing than that.

Take a page from Dr. Wimberly’s book. Giving God your best doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to dress up every Sunday to go to church. It might mean that you wake a little earlier and give God the best part of your day in prayer and Bible study. It might mean that you do a better job of taking care of the body that God gave you. It might mean using all of the gifts that God has given you. It might mean arriving to church early (hint, hint). For some of you, it might mean going to church. But it does mean that you should live your life in such a way that you recognize that God’s approval is the only approval that matters.