…offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
This may be one of the most important verses in the Bible. Oh, I know…it looks benign. You can read it and think, “Nice verse…” and go on with your reading. But when I look at this verse I see all the threads in the Bible coming together into one place.
I can guess what you are thinking. You are probably thinking, “Okay, Jeff. Go ahead. Show me how this ties together all the threads in the Bible. But remember, this is ThreeMinuteBible.com, not TwentyYearBible.com, okay?” Okay. Fair enough. Since we are constrained on time, I will use large brush strokes again and see if I can paint a picture of what I see.
The background of this picture is the Old Testament. Sacrifices that were acceptable to God were the best of the best. Lambs without flaw, and the first fruits of the ground. Yet these were only the physical manifestations of the sacrifice that God was looking for.
What did God want?
“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.” (Micah 6:8)
But man was not able to do this on their own. God promised through Ezekiel:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)
And what are we to do with this heart of flesh? Jesus tells us when he summarizes the entirety of the Old Testament law in two sentences:
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22: 37-40)
Then we come to the New Testament and the Gospel stories. Here we begin to fill in the detail of our picture. In Matthew 11:29 Jesus says:
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Jesus then says,
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)
Finally, we can add in the details of the spiritual sacrifice that is acceptable to God.
What gets in the way of loving one another? Isn’t it our desire to be “right?” Don’t we have a closet in the back of our minds filled with beliefs and things we think are important that only have value in this life. In the spiritual realm, they are more than a burden. They become our chains.
The spiritual sacrifice that God finds acceptable is putting on the yoke of Jesus. We give up our anger and our need to be right and we become gentle and humble in heart. We embrace the heart of flesh that Jesus offers us and let go of our hearts of stone. We love others as God loves us and prize the knowledge that everyone knows we are Jesus’ disciples.
The picture of these sacrifices is very personal. It involves emptying our closets and leaving everything at the foot of the cross. That is the sacrifice that God is looking for.
Application: Cleaning out our closets can be a lifelong task. Whenever you discover something laying around that you have missed, consciously leave it as a sacrifice at the foot of the cross.
Food for Thought: Why is it important that we set an example for others in this matter of spiritual sacrifice?
I like the verses you trace in the devotion. Ironically, I was just reading about this last night in a book by Ravi Zacharias. I would like to quote him here in reference to Micah 6: 6 – 8: “In this passage, God changes the means of access to Himself from the sacrifice of objects to the surrender of the heart …. The heart is the new altar, indestructible when surrendered to God [he is comparing this to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem]. God’s character can never be compromised. God’s provision can never be bought. This gift is greater than the temple could ever offer. The East today is punctuated with temples throughout its landscape. The message of Jesus stands in stark relief.”
He was looking at the superiority of the heart to a physical altar and the gospel to a physical temple and physical sacrifices. God has always wanted our heart, changed our heart, redeemed our heart and wants us to worship in spirit and truth as the primary sacrifice (Psalm 51: 17; John 4: 23 – 24).
Amen, brother!
I like the phrase, “The heart is the new altar…” That captures well the essence of God’s Word and the desire that I hear in Jesus’ words.
Be doers Gods Word, and not only hearers, James 1:22-25. This is our purpose, the reason we remain on earth as believers in Christ.
The last recorded words of Jesus Christ, His Great Commission to all believers are in: Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:46-49. Jesus never walked up to anyone and said, “Let me into your heart,” or “accept Me,”. He spent 3 years living Gods Word, 3 years showing how God provides for His children. We are to do the same. He has called each of us to show our love for Him because of His love for us. We are to do for others as He has done for us. Let Jesus be seen in our everyday life and when others ask us “why are you different” we can ask them “what do you mean?” And then we can tell them.
My wife was with her Bible study group yesterday, all christian ladies, all were overly concerned, very worried about this virus business, and someone asked her how she was feeling. My wife said “ actually, I feel like my husband an I are on Noah’s Ark, God is taking care of us.”
Matthew 16:24, Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me as My disciple, he must set aside selfish interests, show a willingness to endure whatever may come and follow Me, believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me.
As we stop responding to self-centered desires, the Holy Spirit of God will fill the emptiness in our hearts with true Christ centered responses to this world and all it contains. He will teach us and we will serve our loving God in spirit and in truth.
“Nice verse…”
Ron,
Thank you for sharing today. I really appreciate the way you pair James’ words about doing God’s will with Jesus’ admonition to bear the Gospel to the world. I also appreciate your wife’s description of feeling like she is on the ark. I can relate.
Your concluding verse talks about setting aside self interest. I think that was at the heart of my post today. Thank you for pointing to this verse.
👍🏻
Really encouraging and convicting words/scriptures from everyone. That quote from Ravi is a gem, thanks Rich, Ron, and Jeff!
I have had a problem with my heart and loving my brother there has been a big family issue and the rest of my family understand my feelings and have almost cut all ties with my brother. I have come to the point that I have no choice but to love my brother he is blood and family. I have always chosen my brother in all matters that involved him and have been used and belittled by him more than 77 times for sure. But now he is staying with me until he finds a place of his own. I love him but I dont trust him. Love is something that I have no right not to give because of his love and grace given to me for all my sins. But with any relationship child friend coworker parents siblings trust needs to be earned. But I do love him with all my heart and I will continue to try with him.
Timothy,
My heart goes out to you. Brothers, whether blood brothers or spiritual brothers, are part of that inner circle that is vulnerable to hurt. To love in spite of being hurt is both wise and God honoring.
You mention trust. Trust and forgiveness are two different things. One can love and yet not trust. Trust can be given the first time, but after that, as you point out, it has to be earned.
Personally, I trust that our God will honor your decision to love others as yourself. Especially when you are vulnerable. Well done.
I will be praying for you situation Timothy, for your own strength and for your brother’s heart as well. Thanks for sharing. When you shared that you have not right to withhold love, that struck me. I need to improve relations with my own brother as well.
Tim, I appreciate you sharing about your brother. I will be praying for that situation. I love your heart and your desire to honor Christ and to do unto others what He has done unto you. That is a great response and a great example.