Good Morning Friends,
“With what shall I come before the LORD and
bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with
ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to
walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:6-8)
The Old Testament is full of ceremonies in
which the Jews were commanded to participate. It describes in great detail the
rituals they were to go through in presenting themselves to the Lord. The
sacrifices they were required to bring were many, all carefully proscribed for
them by the Law.
Were ceremonies, rituals, and sacrifices what
the Lord was really interested in from His people? Done from a right heart,
those were meaningful to the Jews and meaningful to God, too. But ceremonies,
rituals and sacrifices were not what God was most interested in seeing from His
people. He was most interested in their hearts and the actions that flowed from
their hearts.
The New Testament contains ceremonies and
rituals, too, and gifts that we are asked to bring to God. Sacrifices have been
done away with as we are fully covered in the one sacrifice of Jesus, but there
are other gifts that we are to bring to God. Baptism, communion, tithes,
offerings -- done from a right heart, these are meaningful in our lives and
meaningful to the Lord, too. But these are not what God is most interested in
from us. He is most interested in our hearts and in the actions that flow from
our hearts.
Humility before God. A heart that looks more
and more like His heart -- forgiving and kind. Actions that flow from that
heart. Those are the things God is looking for in His people. Those are things
He is looking for in you!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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