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What gift would you bring to a person who owns everything? As the prime minister of Egypt, Joseph didn't need gold or silver. The offer of power meant nothing to him - he was sovereign over all the land. Jacob couldn't offer him knowledge because Joseph had access to all the knowledge and advanced learning in Egypt. He couldn't offer service because Joseph had many servants to do all that he demanded. What could they possibly give to a powerful, wise, and wealthy man like the prime minister of Egypt?

Jacob had the answer, and as we examine the gifts he sent to Joseph, our thoughts are drawn far higher than a mere mortal man on an ancient throne. We must consider a far greater King and ask ourselves: what could we - poor, miserable creatures - possibly give to a God like Him? What could we, as flawed, sinful, fallen, puny human beings, give to the King of Kings who took our punishment upon Himself?

Our King Wants Simple Gifts

Our King desires our simplicity. Jacob told his sons to gather the best fruits of the land and send them to Joseph as a present. That word carries the idea of a gift expressing loyalty to a superior. The list seems modest - balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts, and almonds. The Costco cart doesn't have much in it, does it? But in truth, it was a lot. Even a little is a lot in a time of famine, just as even a little truth is a lot for those of us who live in a truth-famine culture.

These things were commonplace to Jacob and his sons, yet they represented the best of what little they possessed. Imagine how Joseph must have felt when he received these gifts - he hadn't tasted the fruits of home in many years. These simple things would have gladdened his heart and brought back memories of his early years, though Jacob had no way of knowing this since he didn't realize the prime minister was actually Joseph.

Our King deserves our best after all He does for us. Anything less is an insult to the Lord and to our salvation. Sadly, most people are content to take the best for themselves and leave the Lord the leftovers. But when you walk with the Holy Spirit in your life every day, He's always at the tip of your tongue, always at the tip of your mind, always in your being, and you get this churning of thankfulness, particularly for your salvation.

Our King Deserves Sacrificial Gifts

When Jacob sent his sons back to Egypt, he told them to take double the money they took before. The first time they brought grain, Joseph had put the money back in their sacks. Jacob tells them to take that money plus twice more besides - that's a sacrificial gift to say the least for those men living in famine.

God doesn't need our wealth - He owns all things. As Psalm 50:10,12 declares: "For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills... If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine." He doesn't need our knowledge or wisdom, though we sometimes want to advise Him like a member of His cabinet. Job 42:2 reminds us: "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted."

God doesn't need our power - He upholds the universe and all that is in it. Genesis 18:14 asks, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Think about Jonah and the great fish (not a whale, by the way). In 2012, they found a creature on one of the little islands in the Pacific that they had never discovered before, so large you could have driven a smart car down its throat. God could have had a sofa, a lazy boy, and a mini-fridge inside that great fish for Jonah if He wanted to - nothing is too hard for the Lord.

He doesn't even need our service. Matthew 26:53 tells us He commands legions of angels who exist to do His will perfectly. But the cool thing is, even in the midst of that, He allows us to serve Him.

Our King Requires Committed Gifts

Beyond the material gifts, Jacob sent Benjamin away with his brothers because that's what Joseph demanded. It broke his heart to do it, but he submitted, surrendered, and committed himself to Joseph's will, sending his last beloved youngest son away.

More than your time, more than your talents, more than your tithe, God is really interested in having all of you. He wants to bring you to a place where you - not your stuff - is on the altar. Romans 12:1-2 puts it plainly: "Therefore, because of everything I've already told you, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

God knows that when He has you on the altar, He has everything there is. When you are on the altar, He has your time, He has your talents, and He has your treasure. This is how the Lord worked in Abraham's life - little by little, God brought Abraham to a place of total surrender. In Genesis 22, when God tells Abraham to take Isaac, the son of promise, to the mountain as a burnt offering, there's not a moment of hesitation. Abraham had reached a place where he knew nothing he had was his - everything, including Isaac, belonged to the Lord.

As Hebrews 11:17-19 explains: "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice... Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death." That whole episode was about God getting to Abraham - Isaac was merely a prop, just the leverage God used to move Abraham to a new level of surrender.

This is where God wants to bring us as well. He wants us to reach a place where nothing matters but Him, His will, and His glory. When that happens, everything else takes on a brand new shine - your circumstances, who you're with, your family - it all brightens up. One of the side benefits? Contentment. Two people can sit next to each other - one with a couple hundred in the bank, the other with $5-20 million - and if they both have Jesus, they're both content.

We are never more like God than when we give. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Are you giving gifts that are fit for a King? Does He have your best? Does He have your all? Does He have you?