The Gift Acceptable to God
- jacarroll71
- Feb 9, 2017
- 2 min read
What can we, mere humans, give to God? There is nothing that He needs, but there is something He wants from us. Something He finds acceptable and holy.
Today’s reading
Selected Verses
And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. Leviticus 9:23-24
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Matthew 25:46
Reflections
In offering sacrifices to the Lord, Aaron was careful to do exactly as God through Moses had instructed him. It must have been a relief and thrill when God showed His acceptance by sending fire to consume the sacrifice.
Jesus taught that in the final judgment there would be sheep and goats, separated as acceptable and not acceptable to God. The righteous are acceptable and enter into eternal life but the unrighteous are unacceptable and go to eternal punishment.
Think about it
Will you be found with the righteous, the sheep, on that day? Is your sacrifice to God acceptable? It can be acceptable and you can know that it is.
In Romans 12:1-2 we read: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
We are called to present our bodies to God to serve Him. But take note, verse 1 says “therefore” which means this call is written in light of what Paul said earlier. Paul explained the fallen condition of every human. He emphasized the need to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ. So God calls us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice as the result of our having been justified by faith. Christ redeems us by His offering of Himself to God. We offer ourselves to the Lord not in order to earn acceptability before Him. That is already ours. If you are Christ’s, you will offer yourself to God and He will find your offering acceptable, yes, even holy. Think about it.
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