My Thoughts
God gave the Israelites a way to be forgiven for their sins. He gave them burnt offerings and sacrifices. They began to use these sacrifices and rituals as a way to live like they wanted to and then ask forgiveness. They didn't even take time to know God. They only took time to make themselves right after they did what they wanted. God said I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.
This same thing often plays out in marriages... a husband doesn't time time with his wife... he knows life so little that he can't tell you what she has done that week or what she has said. Then he brings flowers and wants to make it all better. One day the flowers no longer work..one day she sees the flowers not as love for her but as a way to make sure that she loves him. This often happens in reverse too... the wife is too, too busy to even hear her husbands worries.. or his accomplishments... she senses he is upset so she cooks his favorite dinner. Eventually that favorite dinner is his least favorite dinner because it screams to him, "She has not been listening."
God says here, "I want to know you love me...I don't what your sacrifices because I am an afterthought.. I want to be your first thought!!" "I want you to know me enough to know what pleases me... I want you to know me enough to talk to me about everything in your lives. I don't want you to pretend to care with your burnt offerings."
Another words we can't be Sunday Christians. We must be Christians every day. Sunday can't be about making all our wrongs from the week before okay. The wrongs we did knowing even before we did them that we would just ask forgiveness for on Sunday. Our Sundays can't be about being forgiven for the things we didn't know were wrong because we didn't take time to learn. Our Sundays need to be a beginning to our week.. a way to start the week off with God. A promise to Him that we will love Him with our actions...that we will make Him a part of each day, a part of each decision we make.
We need to love God, not because we love ourselves and don't want to go to hell, but because we love God. Love him because He first loved us. Because we know Him, truly know Him. We need to love God because He is God... because He is love. God doesn't want our love because we are suppose to love Him. He wants us to love Him because we just do love Him. To love Him that way we must spend time knowing Him. When we love God like that, that love will, WILL change our lives in amazing ways!!
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