Today's readings: 2 Samuel 11,12; Psalm 51; Matthew 23
The Perfect Sacrifice
Scripture
You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
Psalm 51.16-17
Observation
The only thing God wants from me is my heart--broken and poured out for Him.
Application (How will I be different today because of what I have just read?)
Yesterday I read about the Great Commandment--"You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." [Matthew 22.37-40] I talked about how loving God this way--and then loving others--required sacrifice on our part. Today, the Psalm tells us what the sacrifice is that God wants--a broken spirit . . . a broken and repentant heart.
The sacrifice God wants is--us. He wants us to recognize our need for Him, to be broken over our sin, to not just confess our sin--but to repent (turn and go in the opposite direction), and to completely turn our lives over to Him. That is the sacrifice that God wants--the only one that will satisfy Him.
This calls for serious self-examination . . . with the help of the Holy Spirit. It requires me to stop denying my sins--to confess them--and to realize my need for a Savior. It means that I must humble myself--lose all pretense of "having it together" and acknowledge that without Jesus Christ in my life, I am nothing. It is time for me to lay my life--all of it--at His feet--as a living sacrifice--willing to do whatever He calls me to do--without whining, complaining, or feeling sorry for myself. Today, I can take that first step.
Prayer (Based on Psalm 51)
Have mercy on me, O God,
because of Your unfailing love.
Because of Your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
Against You, and You alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in Your sight.
You will be proved right in what You say,
and Your judgment against me is just.
For I was born a sinner--
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
But You desire honesty from the heart,
teaching me wisdom even there.
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Oh, give me back my joy again;
You have broken me--
now let me rejoice.
Don't keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
Do not banish me from Your presence,
and don't take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
and make me willing to obey You.
You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
So, today, Lord, I once again offer You my heart.
Take it, make it Yours.
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