Mercy>Sacrifice

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice."

~Hosea 6:6~

When God calls us to do something, he is not interested that we do it simply because he has instructed us to. Instead, he wants us to do it because of the fact that we love him. If we simply turn to the word to get fed, what does that say about our intentions? When we pray simply to ask God to heal us, or to instruct us in what to do, then where is our heart? Is it in God, or is it in ourselves? God is not interested in helping you simply to help you; God wants much more than that. God wants you to realize how much his love for you stretches out. It's farther than the east is from the west, and yet we go to God simply to ask for forgiveness of sins and to move on in our life. Sure, if God instructs us to give up something we generally try and go about it with gritted teeth in order to get where we think we should be in order to please him. But living in God is so much more than pleasing him; in fact, living in God should have nothing to do with pleasing him. Instead, pleasing God should come naturally with loving him.

"There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land."

~Hosea 4:1~

Mercy here is compared to truth and knowledge. Therefore, God doesn't want us to give up parts of our lives in order for us to be more pleasing to Him. Instead, he wants us to know Him, and for us to draw closer to him. One could compare our relationship to God with a relationship with a wealthy and wise grandfather. The grandfather wants more than for you to turn up at the doorstep looking for help when it is needed, and he wants more than a phone call now and then asking for advice. No, he wants to spend time with you, to just hear about your day, for you to want to hear stories about his life. In the same way, we shouldn't go to God in search of blessings and nuggets of wisdom. We should turn to God because we love him.

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."

~2 John v. 6~

If we love God, we need not worry about what we will get in return. "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Christianity isn't about obedience to a set of rules or listening to what God has to say in order to get something in return. It's about drawing close to the one who so intimately made you and called you. In order to find the love of God and truly apply it to our lives, we should not simply go to God for handouts. 

"This is my prayer; that your love may about more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ."

~Philippians 1:9-10~

"Come near to God and he will come near to you."

~James 4:8~

God does not come down to us, and if we look to Him and His word simply as tools to help us become better people, then He wants nothing to do with us. That is a case where we are putting sacrifice above mercy. We want to sacrifice in order to better ourselves. God is so much more than that. He craves a relationship with you, and we should be turning to Him in order to know him. We should not be in the equation at all.

Cast Off Our Burdens

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

~Hebrews 12:1~

Believers in Christ are called to run the race that God has set before them. While everybody's race is unique to their relationship with Christ, the end goal is to be the same for all; that is, to be living manifestations of God's love.

Although our paths and races are different, they are similar in many ways. We have individual struggles, but everyone will have struggles none the less. In the book of James, it is stated,

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." 

~James 1:12~

We cannot simply give up when trials come our way, but we must submit ourselves to God's will. And that generally means God will call us to give up certain areas of our lives in order that His Spirit may have more room to grow in us. To daily pick up our cross means to give more and more control to Christ, because we are instructed to

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthily natures: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."

~Colossians 3:5~

God calls each of us individually to crucify our sinful nature. What that means to me could be completely different from what it means to you. We can take an example from David in what we must do in order to truly be freed from our sinful desires, to ask God to take them away, and to follow through with that prayer.

"Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression."

~Psalm 19:12-13~

As Hebrews mentioned, we must cast aside what hinders and burdens us in order to run fully towards God. Yes, because of his love our sins are forgiven, but that does not mean that we are not burdened if we continue to sin. We will be able to achieve some spiritual growth, but ultimately the growth will come in much greater strides if we are able to become free of the sins that continue to bind us. The less sin we allow to have control in our lives, the more we will see the works of God. And it is through seeing God's works that we grow spiritually.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

~Matthew 5:8~

Just remember, if you listen for the voice of God, you will hear it. But that will easily slip away if you do not act upon it, and it is so easy to become stagnant in our faith if we do not follow through with personal commandments that come from God. Hold out hope, though, because if we put into action what God speaks to us, we will truly be made complete in him.

"But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him."

~1 John 2:5~