Sacrifices and Burnt Offerings

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced;
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require."
--Psalm 40:6

It's a really short section of the chapter. But I think it is a very important one to consider.

In the Old Testament, there were very specific steps you had to take to absolve yourself from sin. This continued on for thousands of years, until Christ came. When he placed himself on the cross, he became, at that moment, every sacrifice and offering we would ever have to make with the hope of trying to hold a relationship with God. I love this verse because to me it portrays God's intense desire to have a relationship with us, and not merely subservient beings made to flatter and obey. There is more to knowing God than most people think. Truly, it is a great flaw in the way we have portrayed Christianity that people think it is all about the rules, and not about the deep relationship. With the relationship comes desire to follow, not "rules" but a better way of living. It is a big picture way of living, and it separates us from the path previously traveled, the one that lives for empty meaningless self serving pleasure. I'm not saying it's wrong to feel good, or to enjoy yourself, but if that is all you live for, you will find yourself very alone, and very very empty, without purpose. And what do you require to feel those things? Is it sex, drugs, looking good, partying constantly? I heard something on Sunday that really struck me. The pastor was talking about drugs, and today's youth. Can't you see they're controlling you? He said. Can't you see? We deny it, we are in denial because we know it's true and we don't want to believe it. But when it comes down to it, who is in control? If I think I'm controlling a situation, I'm about to get another thing coming to me. When I try to control something, it will always go wrong eventually.

But what of those who say that following "rules" is a complete drag? It's the mindset that makes a difference. There are certain things that make absolutely no sense to me, and I am sure the same applies to you. It's how we think. When I made the choice to have a "kingdom" mindset, certain things just no longer made sense. Now, a lot of it didn't happen overnight, and there were different choices that I had to make, but once I made that decision to change, life became a lot different. The most noticeable difference immediately was the fact that I finally felt like I had purpose, that life wasn't in fact empty and meaningless. In another translation, it says that "my ears you have opened." My ears have been pierced, they have been opened to greater truths than I can conclude on my own. I have a God who does not require meaningless tradition and burnt offerings. I have a God who desires a relationship with me, who wants to me to know Him and love Him as much as He loves and knows me. He doesn't have a "quick fix" for a sin. He gave us his own immeasurably costly sacrifice so that we would no longer have to worry about sin offerings. He never had to do that. He never had to care. And yet, He did. I cannot compute this amazing love God has for us. But I sure do appreciate it.