Monday, March 28, 2011

God Rejects the Imperfect Sacrifice

In my reading time today I was reading the book of Malachi where God was unhappy with the priests because they had begun to allow the the people of Israel to offer less than perfect animals to sacrifice. They were offering blind, lame and sick animals. God had previously  made it clear the type of sacrifice that was acceptable to him. "If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation of the Lord." Lev. 1:3
       The sin in neglecting to do this demonstrated a complete lack of regard for God's wishes by offering him what was convenient to them. They obviously had a greater desire for the perfect animals than the imperfect animals and chose to hold on to those rather than be obedient to God. I guess they figured that offering something was better than offering nothing. In essence they just gave God their leftovers.
      Well that made me think. How often is it that I give God my leftovers? Whether it be of my time in prayer, time in the Word, or even sharing his Word with others. I must admit that I am guilty of offering up blind and lame animals on the altar, and just like the Israelites might have thought, I considered it "better than nothing".          
Now this may be true since we are now under grace and not under law, but the truth of this story still remains.
If I say I love God why is he always getting the few moments I have left in my day, or the few minutes I have in between doing this and that?  Shouldn't I honor God above all else? Shouldn't you?
       When I think about my day and the time I could be spending with God as opposed to doing other insignificant things it's astounding, but even that thinking is flawed because I am attempting to fit God into my life as opposed to fitting my life around my time and relationship with God.
         I recently attended a car seat safety training at my job and as the instructor taught us all that we needed to know on the subject ( or at least all that she could cram into an hour) she advised that when purchasing a car seat that we should not spare any expense. She did also advise to staying within one's budget but with this she gave nugget of wisdom that changed my whole way of thinking on the subject. She made mention of how many families spend astronomical amounts of money on cribs, changing tables, and strollers while they are only willing to spend a fraction of those costs on a car seat. Being that the car seat is the one thing that is used for its safety features it would probably be wise to spend a bit more money on that and a little less on the stroller or changing table.
When she put it that way it totally changed the way I would prioritize in that situation. It is of utmost importance that I step back and look at how I have prioritized my life. I have been breaking the bank on buying strollers and changing tables while spending mere pennies on my car seat. God is the ONLY thing that can sustain me. I have to consider Him  before all else.

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