The Sacrifice God Requires of You
I once served as president at Northwest Family & Counseling Center in Redmond. At my departure I was given a priceless picture with Micah 6:8 inscribed: “He has shown you, O mortal, 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.” I still have that gift to remind me of what God requires of me personally.
So often we think that God requires so much more and such big things of us. For example, in my younger years I was under a pastor who required fasting for several days; we were not allowed to eat any food but drink water only. Some struggled with that and felt guilty and even condemned when they couldn’t keep the requirements the pastor wanted us to live up to. So often we strive to live up to man’s requirements, but what does God requirements looks like? “Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.”
Animal sacrifices to God were instituted by the ceremonial law in the Old Testament, such as burnt-offerings of rams for sin-offerings and oil for the meat- offerings, but these alone would not recommend Israel to God. God often declared that to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken to His Word better than the fat of rams. The legal sacrifices had their virtue and value from the institution as they referred to Christ, the great propitiation. Otherwise, in and of themselves, it was impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin.
The Lord is calling for a living sacrifice, not a bunch of burnt offerings. He desires our heart sacrifice, obedience and surrender to conduct our individual lives according to the Word of God, not according to man. “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people” (Eph. 6:7 NIV).
So often we think that God requires so much more and such big things of us. For example, in my younger years I was under a pastor who required fasting for several days; we were not allowed to eat any food but drink water only. Some struggled with that and felt guilty and even condemned when they couldn’t keep the requirements the pastor wanted us to live up to. So often we strive to live up to man’s requirements, but what does God requirements looks like? “Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.”
Animal sacrifices to God were instituted by the ceremonial law in the Old Testament, such as burnt-offerings of rams for sin-offerings and oil for the meat- offerings, but these alone would not recommend Israel to God. God often declared that to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken to His Word better than the fat of rams. The legal sacrifices had their virtue and value from the institution as they referred to Christ, the great propitiation. Otherwise, in and of themselves, it was impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin.
The Lord is calling for a living sacrifice, not a bunch of burnt offerings. He desires our heart sacrifice, obedience and surrender to conduct our individual lives according to the Word of God, not according to man. “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people” (Eph. 6:7 NIV).