SCRIP-BITS

Proverbs 15:8.     The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
 
Buenos dias mi amigos! That’s Espanol, Spanish for Good Morning Friends! What a way the ole fella is waxing linguistically these days eh! (smile) But please don’t ask me to say much more than good morning or good evening cause the old brain, through lack of use, has forgotten most of the French and Spanish it once knew. Now just a gentle reminder for those who celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday, that it’s very important we get together with other believers and encourage ourselves in our wonderful God with praise, thanksgiving and joyful worship. Remember Christ’s church is ONE body, though made up of many individual parts, and unless those parts work together in harmony, meaning believers working in faithful tandem, the body won’t progress, won’t stay strong and grow, but will regress and eventually fall apart like our human bodies do when we abuse or don’t take good care of them. And we certainly don’t want Christ’s church to fall apart, so, if at all possible, let’s get out today and celebrate the awesomeness of the God we so enthusiastically serve and worship. That brings us to our Bit: ‘The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.’ That’s the living truth my people! The Lord doesn’t want anything to do with the wicked. Hear the scholars comment on it. ‘The best that the wicked can offer God religiously is completely rejected.’ And why not, since they are not sincere in their efforts. What the Lord desires more than anything else is sincerity in our dealing with Him, and for that matter, also with our fellow man. As our Bit rightly declares; ‘but the prayer of the upright is his delight.’ And remember Friends, we can fool ourselves and each other, like the Pharisees, with our outward show of righteousness, but we can’t fool God, who looks at the motives of our hearts and not simply our outward actions. We all know the famous words of Samuel to Saul, when he disobeyed God’s orders to destroy all of the Amalekites and their property, but he saved the king, Agag, and allowed the people to keep spoil to offer blood sacrifice. ‘Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (divination), and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.’ (1 Sam.15:22-23) It’s the same relationship we cultivate with our children, where we want them to do as we ask, rather than what they think we want. And the scholars note that: ‘Those verses reinforce the Old Testament viewpoint that religious ritual devoid of spiritual reality and a life of total allegiance to a sovereign LORD is worthless. (cf. Ps.40;6-8; Is.1:10-20; Mic.6:8)’ Absolute truth my people! And since I know many of you won’t look up the scriptures provided, I’ll include some of them here. In Psalm 40, Praise for answered prayer, Bruh David proclaims: ‘Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume (scroll) of the book it is written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.’ (Ps.40:6-8) And that’s how it should be! Now listen to this excellent example of the ritual worship, when Isaiah calls to the people of Judah to repent. ”Hear the word of the Lord ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offering of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread (trample) my courts? Bring no more vain oblation (futile sacrifices); incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with (endure); it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.’ (Is.1:10-13) The scholars have an excellent commentary on that: ‘The prophet addressed the people of Judah as if they were the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. His criticism of their hypocritical religion should not be taken as a rejection of the divinely ordained sacrificial system. Rather, it is a condemnation of their superficial worship. They were merely going through the ritual of religion with no real heart for God. Vain oblations are worthless offerings. Even the solemn meeting became nothing more than a sinful gathering because of their wrong motives.’ Unfortunately though Friends, a lot of that stuff is also happening today. Too many of us are just talking God, with no serious intent in our hearts, merely going through the outward motions. But that doesn’t sit well with our God at all. If there’s no genuine delight in Him, and a faithful following of His dictates, then all our prayers, sacrifices, etc, will be worthless. And we’ll close with the poignant words of Micah on the subject. ‘Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body (my own child) for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to LOVE mercy (LOVING-kindness), and to walk humbly with thy God?’ (Mic.6:6-8) Nuff said my people! Please, let’s allow wisdom to lead and guide us in the dealings with our God. Much LOVE!…the words and actions of an insincere heart…will never get God’s attention…much less His approval…