Day 203

Hosea 6:1-7:16, Romans 7:7-25, Psalm 88:9b-18

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
   and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
                                                             Hosea 6:6

This is a theme that we see the prophets pick up on a regular basis, challenging the worship as well as the lifestyle of the people. I have been looking at some of Hosea’s prophecy recently (and the same with Amos) and struggled a bit to find the direct relevance for us today. This verse hits the nail right on the head though. It says so many things.

If you are doing the sacrifice (let’s call it “worship”) without the mercy then it is all an empty gesture, it’s a bit pointless. What God wants is the mercy, he wants us to live out the Gospel.

If it doesn’t acknowledge God then it is equally as useless, in fact it is even more of an empty gesture. There are people who come to church for other reasons than because they love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their minds. What we need to do though is make sure that all of our worship points to God and acknowledges the part that he plays in our lives.

It also challenges us as to what our worship is like, not just why we come. For the Jews the sacrifice had become a ritual. You did it … well because that is what everyone did and it is how it had been done for years. Most people didn’t actually know why it was done like that any more. What about our worship? Why do we do that, why do we do it in the way that we do it? Do we actually know?

What God wants is our lives and not just an hour of our lives on a Sunday morning. He wants us to live for him day by day, so that as we wake each day our hearts acknowledge that he is the Lord God almighty. This means that our whole lives are worshipping God and it helps when we come together to worship so that also is pleasing to Him.

How will you worship God today?