Amos Chapter 4: Verses 4-5 (NLT Version)
“Go ahead and offer sacrifices to the idols at Bethel. Keep on disobeying at Gilgal. Offer sacrifices each morning, and bring your tithes every three days. Present your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving. Then give your extra voluntary offerings so you can brag about it everywhere! This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do,” says the Sovereign Lord.
1 Samuel Chapter 15: Verse 22 (NLT Version)
But Samuel replied,
“What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
Amos brought the people a rebuke from God. Once again, they had lost their focus. They were too caught up bringing things to God rather than spending time in worship and fellowship with Him. God didn’t need their offerings as such. He is the creator, after all. It was the attitude of their hearts as they brought their offering which was more important, and their hearts were not in it. They were only going through the motions, in some cases just for effect. They hadn’t learned the lesson of King Saul who did exactly the same thing. Later on, Jesus would tell the religious leaders of the day that they were following the same path.
God doesn’t want our possessions, our finance and our good deeds for their own sake either, especially if we’re only bringing them to salve our conscience, or to show off our prosperity and status. He wants us to spend time in His presence, to listen to what He says and to do whatever He asks us to do. It’s not complicated really.
Dear Lord,
Help me not to be too caught up in the business of serving and doing so that I don’t take the time to listen and obey. I know Your ear is always open to my prayer. May my heart always be open to hear what You have to say and do what You ask of me. I pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.