For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6
Burnt offerings were instituted by the Lord, but He did not want the Israelites to make those sacrifices at the neglect of being merciful or having the knowledge of the Lord! God’s heart from the beginning of creation was to walk with us as He walked with Adam in the cool of the day. The Lord assigned tasks to Adam and Eve to work the land and subdue the earth, but that was not meant to replace His relationship with them.
Those of us who have adult children have a good understanding of this. We want to see our children to mature, accomplish their tasks well, and fulfill their God given purpose, but we do not want them at the sacrifice of our relationship with them. We love to hear from our children, but we hope that sometimes they call us because they just want to talk to us not because they need something. We also desire that they will develop and maintain a good relationship with their siblings.
The challenge for all of us is that we can misuse motion and activity in replacement to mercy and intimacy. For some of us, we would rather make the sacrifice of getting up early and working hard rather than being patient with a difficult family member. We prefer to write the tithing check than forgiving the brother or sister at church.
The Lord does not want our activities to take the place of our heart condition. He desires for us to have a heart that is merciful and kind towards others. The burnt offering are a representation of being dutiful and feeling self-righteous but missing the heart of God!
Lord, today we pray that you would give us the capacity to be merciful and a desire to know your heart better. Help us not to allow others to annoy or frustrate us so easily. Instead, we want to easily love and be merciful to others.
