Listen, My people, and I will speak. I will testify against you, Israel. I am God. Your God. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or for your burnt offerings, which are continually before Me. I will not accept a bull from your household or male goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and everything in it is Mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and pay vows to the Most High. Call on Me in a day of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honor Me." Vs. 7-15
There was a time when I thought my God loved me because I was such a good little Baptist girl. Being a middle child, I have always wanted to please. Obedience gained a pat on the head not only from my parents, but also from teachers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I still love the accolades for doing something right or accomplishing a task well. Tell me I am not alone. We all want approval and acknowledgement. One of the things I am most proud of in our children is that if we (or you) ask them to do something and they say they will do it, they do it. We can forget about it and count it accomplished. That is so commendable.
Jesus told a story of two brothers and their father. My amplified version:
One morning very early, Jacobi went to wake his eldest son who had been out drinking the night before and had a very bad hangover. Drowsy and bothered by a throbbing headache, Simon rolled over and put his hand to his face to block out the early morning sun.
"Get up, Simon," said Jacobi as he jabbed his son's knee with his fist. "The vineyard is short of pickers today and you must help!"
"Wha...?" Simon rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the face of his dad. Cotton-mouth and the foul odor of stale alcohol made even Simon nauseated as he ventured a reply. "No!"
The son rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.
Thaddeus was sleeping in another part of the house. He is a good boy. Doesn't drink, smoke, carouse...likes the pat on the head for being a pansy.
"Wake up, Thad!" calls Jacobi. "I need some help in the vineyard today or the grapes will grow bad on the vines!"
Jacobi throws the covers from his son then prods him out of bed. "Did you hear me?"
"Yes, sir! I will." Thaddeus, such a good boy.
Ah...Thad got busy. Combing his silky beard took a little longer than he thought. Then he had to text his girlfriend, brush his teeth, eat breakfast, get gas in the car......anything to not go to the fields. But, hey, he was a good kid. Didn't do all those bad things Simon did. Dad would give him a pass because of that.
But Simon cannot go back to sleep. His father asked him to help. That kept playing with his heart. So he got his drunken body out of bed, threw on his work clothes (never mind the beard and the girlfriend) and went to the vineyard to save the grapes. No big fanfare. Not a word to Jacobi about how great he was to forfeit his sleep for the old man's vineyard. Just knew he had to help out because he loved his father too much not to go.
It matters to God why we give to Him. Why we obey. Our Father doesn't need our sacrifices. He doesn't eat them. Nor does He drink the sacrificial blood given up to Him. His rebuke against His children was not that they did not sacrifice, but that they did it with the wrong heart. So he likens the brothers to prostitutes and tax collectors and all the nice church people who give out of duty with no understanding of the heart of God. If the one forgiven much is the one who loves much, it would behoove us to understand how much we are forgiven even if we are too good to be true.
It took life to show me that being a good little Baptist girl was not enough. When good Baptist girls go bad, what then do they do? How then can they be saved? There are not enough goats and bulls to cover her when her exhaustive list of humble righteousness falls flat. Precious the realization that "I don't drink, and I don't chew, and I don't go with the boys that do" is sacrificial baloney (or bull) if behind the abstinence there is no real understanding of the love of God. He doesn't want my stuff.....He wants my heart. If He has that, He has my stuff, too. And even on a day when I say, "I don't wanna do that, Father," I am compelled from busyness or lethargy to get out of bed and do His will.
There was a time when I thought my God loved me because I was such a good little Baptist girl. Being a middle child, I have always wanted to please. Obedience gained a pat on the head not only from my parents, but also from teachers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I still love the accolades for doing something right or accomplishing a task well. Tell me I am not alone. We all want approval and acknowledgement. One of the things I am most proud of in our children is that if we (or you) ask them to do something and they say they will do it, they do it. We can forget about it and count it accomplished. That is so commendable.
Jesus told a story of two brothers and their father. My amplified version:
One morning very early, Jacobi went to wake his eldest son who had been out drinking the night before and had a very bad hangover. Drowsy and bothered by a throbbing headache, Simon rolled over and put his hand to his face to block out the early morning sun.
"Get up, Simon," said Jacobi as he jabbed his son's knee with his fist. "The vineyard is short of pickers today and you must help!"
"Wha...?" Simon rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the face of his dad. Cotton-mouth and the foul odor of stale alcohol made even Simon nauseated as he ventured a reply. "No!"
The son rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.
Thaddeus was sleeping in another part of the house. He is a good boy. Doesn't drink, smoke, carouse...likes the pat on the head for being a pansy.
"Wake up, Thad!" calls Jacobi. "I need some help in the vineyard today or the grapes will grow bad on the vines!"
Jacobi throws the covers from his son then prods him out of bed. "Did you hear me?"
"Yes, sir! I will." Thaddeus, such a good boy.
Ah...Thad got busy. Combing his silky beard took a little longer than he thought. Then he had to text his girlfriend, brush his teeth, eat breakfast, get gas in the car......anything to not go to the fields. But, hey, he was a good kid. Didn't do all those bad things Simon did. Dad would give him a pass because of that.
But Simon cannot go back to sleep. His father asked him to help. That kept playing with his heart. So he got his drunken body out of bed, threw on his work clothes (never mind the beard and the girlfriend) and went to the vineyard to save the grapes. No big fanfare. Not a word to Jacobi about how great he was to forfeit his sleep for the old man's vineyard. Just knew he had to help out because he loved his father too much not to go.
It matters to God why we give to Him. Why we obey. Our Father doesn't need our sacrifices. He doesn't eat them. Nor does He drink the sacrificial blood given up to Him. His rebuke against His children was not that they did not sacrifice, but that they did it with the wrong heart. So he likens the brothers to prostitutes and tax collectors and all the nice church people who give out of duty with no understanding of the heart of God. If the one forgiven much is the one who loves much, it would behoove us to understand how much we are forgiven even if we are too good to be true.
It took life to show me that being a good little Baptist girl was not enough. When good Baptist girls go bad, what then do they do? How then can they be saved? There are not enough goats and bulls to cover her when her exhaustive list of humble righteousness falls flat. Precious the realization that "I don't drink, and I don't chew, and I don't go with the boys that do" is sacrificial baloney (or bull) if behind the abstinence there is no real understanding of the love of God. He doesn't want my stuff.....He wants my heart. If He has that, He has my stuff, too. And even on a day when I say, "I don't wanna do that, Father," I am compelled from busyness or lethargy to get out of bed and do His will.
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