Offerings That Please God

Offerings That Please God

“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.” (Gen. 8:20)

What kind of an offering does God want you and me to bring to him?

   During ancient times people brought all kinds of sacrifices to please their gods. The Canaanites placed their children on the altar of sacrifice a practice that our God in heaven utterly despised. That was one reason why God chose to have the Israelites wipe them out of the Land of Promise.

   During the time of Alexander the Great, Antiochus IV Epiphanes set up the image of Jupiter in the Temple at Jerusalem and sacrificed a pig on the altar thus desecrating the Holy Place. He made every effort to suppress the Jews and was the instigator in the War of the Maccabees.

   After the sin and fall of our first parents (Adam and Eve) in the Garden of Eden, God prescribed the offering of an innocent animal as an acceptable sacrifice and means of worship. Abel obeyed his parent’s instructions and brought a lamb from his flock which was accepted, but Cain ignored the instructions and brought produce from his farm which was rejected. Why was Cain’s offering rejected? Primarily because it was the product of the works of his hands and failed to bring glory to God. Man’s works brought about by self-effort is never acceptable to God.

   What kind of offering did God really want from Israel?

    “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of god rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)

    What kind of offering does God want from us today?

    “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. “ (Heb. 13:15)

    Are you willing to do this as an act of worship?

Prayer: Dear Lord, what better way to worship than to give your praise and thanksgiving?