Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
What do you give somebody who has everything? This was a question that I always asked myself growing up, you know, as one of my best friends came from a wealthy family. That's not to say that my family struggled with poverty. God always provided. But when I say that he lived a different lifestyle, I mean he lived a different lifestyle.
And I loved going over to his house and playing with all of the amazingly cool toys that he had, but it made it difficult when birthdays or holidays rolled around, because I wanted to get him a gift and I wanted to get him a good gift. I remember walking through Toys “R” Us with that $20 bill in your hand that was your budget that your parents gave you, and everything you see seems cheap or not good enough or embarrassing or he probably already has it.
And I just felt like everything that I could possibly bring him would be like nothing to him. And I want you to be honest. Do you ever treat your relationship with God like that? He has everything, He needs nothing. So, what could we possibly bring Him that He doesn't already have? That's why I find it fascinating when Scripture calls us to give to God or to bring God something.
The Old Way vs. The New Way
And that's what we read in our verse today from First Chronicles chapter 16, verse 29 and says, Give to the Lord the glory He deserves. Bring your offering and come into His presence. Worship the Lord in all His holy splendor. Perhaps you felt like you've had to earn God's favor. Or maybe you need to outweigh your bad deeds with good deeds to even be in His presence.
See, the reality is, at one point in time, that's exactly how it worked. Under the old covenant system, people had to make sacrifices continually to cover their sins. But it never took their sins away. And the prophet Isaiah wrote that unrighteous people who try to bring righteous good deeds before God are just like bringing filthy rags to Him or trying to wipe up the mess. But it can never be fully cleaned.
But then with the new covenant, we find a new system. Jesus enters into His own creation. God sends Him as the perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins. And when Jesus dies once for all, we get to freely enter into God's presence. We don't need to bring Him a gift to earn His favor. We don't have to make a sacrifice to get on His good side. Jesus laid it all down so that we could be with Him.
What Offering Does God Want?
And so it begs the question: if we don't have to make sacrifices like that, what sort of offering is God looking for? Well, we read about this in Romans chapter 12. The apostle Paul is speaking about our form of worship, and he says this:
"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all that He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him." - Romans 12:1 (NLT)
My friends, God doesn't need anything from you, but He wants your heart. He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to abide in Him as He abides in you. So I invite all of us, by the gift freely given by Jesus, to enter into His presence and worship in all His holy splendor.
