Retelling a Great Lesson

Scripture: Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools, for they do not know how to keep from doing evil. Ecclesiastes 5:1

Observation: The wise teacher juxtaposes two types of faithful people ... the ones who strive to listen to the Lord and learn what is right, and those who only comply with the laws of sacrifice. Both go to the temple. Both appear righteous. However, the latter does not know or understand the will of the Lord, and thus they commit sin and do evil then take the prescribed actions to absolve their sin. The former learns the will of God and improves their wisdom and path in life.

This is another way of giving one of the most important lessons of the entire bible. Micah explicitly tells of all Israel that the Lord never truly wanted any amount of sacrifice, but rather desired the people to simply seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord. Jesus quotes scripture and challenges the Pharisees to re-learn what was meant when the Lord said he desired mercy, not sacrifice ... acknowledgement of God, not burnt offerings. Yahweh never wanted ritualistic practices of absolution. Rather, he wanted us to simply love him enough to try to learn from him, draw near him, and show love to others in his name. He may have provided avenues to absolution for when we would fail, but compliance with those instructions was never the goal.

Application: Yes, I sin, and need to both pray for forgiveness, and to find absolution through faith in Jesus Christ. However, I truly desire to instead have a changed heart, to become more empathetic to everyone, to grow in humility, and to (in short) draw near to the Lord and listen to him.

Once a day I probably think about how to be nearer to the Lord. This is not nearly good enough ... it needs to be a continual mindset. Too often, I am neutral at best when it comes to considering the will of the Lord in my thoughts and actions and attitudes.

I would rather approach the Lord with the goal of listening and learning - in love and humility - than to approach him in need of absolution and forgiveness and correction for what I have done. The Lord loves me enough to give that absolution, but my life will never improve while on that cycle.

Prayer: Lord, I sincerely desire to walk humbly with you daily, hourly, and moment by moment. I desire a softened and broken heart. You have blessed me so richly in all aspects of my life, may I use that blessing to bless and serve others in your name. Amen.