One day a missionary in India was hurrying along a street that ran beside the Ganges River. Suddenly, he came upon a native woman who was standing and looking out at the water. In her arms was a sickly, whining infant. At her side stood a beautiful, strong, healthy little boy.

When the missionary stopped and began a conversation with the woman, she told him that she was in deep distress and was considering giving an offering to her god, the Ganges River. Naturally, the missionary took the opportunity to tell her about Jesus and ask her to believe in Christ as Savior. But in response to hearing the gospel, the woman only shook her head and would not heed Christ’s call. After some time had passed, and with his efforts producing no results, the missionary left and went on to his other duties.

Later, when he returned to the spot, he found the woman still there, but now she was sitting and rocking the sickly child in her arms. Tears were streaming down her face and she was moaning loudly. Missing from the scene was the strong, healthy son that had been standing by her side. It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened. To appease her god, the woman had sacrificed her healthy child to the river’s crocodiles.

The missionary ran up to her and asked, “Why did you do it?” In reply, the woman answered, “I made an offering to my god. Perhaps he will hear me.” The missionary said, “But why, if you had to make an offering, did you give your healthy little boy? Why didn’t you at least give the sickly child?” To that, the woman rose to her feet, straightened herself up somewhat proudly, and said, “We give our gods our best.” Heartbreaking story? Certainly. But proper attitude toward giving to your god? You’d better know it. Have you been giving your best to God lately?