When your best stuff is not enough

Hosea 5:5-10

The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them.  With their flocks and herds, they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord, for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.”

The very best Israel has to offer God is on an encounter with Truth and with judgment before you get bold in your spirit, how would you do with a one on one with the Truth, how would your Nation do, and you understand I’m referring to God?  Would you do as Israel and Judah, come to God with your best stuff, your wealth, and talents, make the best business deal you could?  If so, you are in store for the same results that Israel and Judah received, they sought Him but He was not to be found.

How could God turn down such gifts, it is real simple and you and they should have a clear understanding of the why; it is stated in 1 Samuel 15:22, “But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”  And if Israel and Judah or the USA were looking for a right relationship with our LORD, there is only one path, and it is not your best stuff, but it is your brokenness!  We are given this insight in Psalms 51:16-17, “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” 

This is God’s judgment for Israel and Judah; “They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord” and as a lover of God does it not seem the United States of America has done the same, and many of the Nations who once were in name Christian?  What about His church has it not also allowed the world and it’s policy and practices to bring pride and not repentance?  Are you not fearful of falling into the hands of an angry God, have you moved so far into the darkness, that you believe God is going to overlook sin in your life, in your family, in your Nation?  My dear brothers and sisters dwell on 1 Peter 4:16-17, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice