Anchor Scriptures: Exodus 34:22-26, Luke 18: 10-14
Bible References: Gen. 4: 4-10, James 4:6-10, 1 Peter 5: 5-6, Rev. 4: 1-4, Mat. 5:5
Introduction As men, we do different things for different purposes, which in actual fact were our motivations for our actions, either towards our fellow men, or even towards God, our Creator. Whatever or whoever may be the object of our actions or inactions, the fact remains that something propelled our actions or otherwise.
Benevolence is an act that is very prominent in the Scriptures, and our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, taught a handful on it; ranging from who deserves it, to how to do it and when to do it, the teachings go on.
Many of us do not even know that we could commit sin even in our attempt to please and obey God, even, in giving.
Our prayers is that the God of all understanding shall grant us such to know and see these things, even as we obey Him in Jesus Christ mighty name. Amen.
Message In the book of 2 Samuel 6:5-7, a very zealous young man, Uzzah, tried to help God, but his good intentions only resulted in his tragic death. That unsavoury event taught many in Israel, and even us today, that even in obeying God, certain things are to observed, lest one is condemned even in the process of pleasing Him.
A sacrifice is anything we offer to God; either tangible or intangible. Tangible things will include money and the likes, in offerings, while our prayers, praises, dancings, etc, are classified as intangible sacrifices. And we bring them to Him, or we should bring them to Him, because He deserves them.
The book of Acts 17:24-25 teaches that God does not need anything because He gives us all these things, even including our lives, by which we are being counted among the living. Therefore, this being so, we need to learn how to "give" back to Him, what He gave us in the first place.
The Holy Spirit is teaching us today that our sacrifices could be leavened, and therefore, become unacceptable to our Maker, Who commanded us to bring them, in the first place. May He open our hearts of understanding in Jesus Christ mighty name. Amen.
So, we look at what constitutes a leavened sacrifice. Ordinarily, a leaven is anything added to another substance to make it appear to be much more than it actually is. For example, yeast added to flour to make it "rise." However, the express command in Exodus 34:25 is that "the blood of my sacrifice must not be cooked with leaven." That is, there is no need puffing your sacrifice. There is no need garnishing it. All we need do is bring it as it is. I pray God grants us understanding in Jesus Christ mighty name. Amen.
The basic truth about sacrifices that some men of God have failed to espouse upon their congregations is the fact that God is more concerned with the offerer rather than the offering (1 Sam. 16:7). Most times, especially today, there may be nothing wrong with the offering, but a million things wrong with the offerer. That was the case of Cain in Genesis 4.
Likewise, in our anchor Scripture, there was nothing wrong in offering a sacrifice of prayers unto God, but the kind of words used by the Pharisee leavened up his prayers, and thus, rendered it unacceptable before God. Let's get a bit practical about this. Supposing, as it is done in some Christian denominations, which is wrong anyway (Mat. 6: 3-4), that people brought forth their tithes and or offerings, and you, as one of them, began to compare the size of your own envelope to those of others, maybe yours appears bigger than others'. And you begin to query, in your heart, how somebody could bring such a "lean" envelope before God as offering or tithe, as the case may be; in that wise, you have leavened up your sacrifice, no doubt; it has thus become unacceptable to God. As I said above, God is not concerned with the size of your offering, as many Pastors and G.Os make you believe, God is more concerned with the heart with which you bring the offering.
Or let's say it was a prayer session, and there was somebody beside you who could not pray as much as you, and the fellow was just doing their thing gently. But you, heeding what the Pastor said that "if somebody beside you is not " praying well", run away from their sides, you then condemned the person and or by running away from them, brethren, you have wittingly nullified your own sacrifice. That exactly was the scenario in our anchor Scripture, Luke 18: 10-14. Again, God is not concerned with the amount of noise and the razzmatazz you bring into your prayers, as a sacrifice, but with the heart with which you offered the prayers.
Oftentimes before God, we are more important than whatever we may want to "give Him."
Conclusion The problem, really with Christianity today, is that most Christians don't read their Bibles anymore. Rather, they listen to their Pastors, most of whom are "in business" and their tapes. (You could justify their business position when you discover that the Pastor is richer than over 70% of the congregation he leads and he's not even lifting a finger to help, than asking them to pray and sow seeds).
Sorry for the digression. But in Act of Apostles 4:19, Peter and John asked the Sanhedrin thus: "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." Yeah, brethren! That is the Spirit. That is what is lacking in the church today. The first Christians feared God more than the Pharisees (Pastors, Prophets, G.Os, etc), but today, the reverse is the case. That is why our sacrifices, tangible and intangible, have become unacceptable before God, and we labour more than necessary and our problems, seemingly unsurmountable.
Finally, what leavens our sacrifices is our hearts' state and the things of the world in our hands, while we bring them to God. For example, a person may want to impress in their church, and therefore, go ahead to steal or engage in a "perfect fraud" at work, or as a woman, engage in "stylish prostitution", so as to be able to give what we, today call "a bountiful offering". But note that just as a puffed up heart can not offer an acceptable sacrifice unto God, so also, bountiful offering from shady deals and questionable means are unacceptable to Him. The moment one's heart is lifted before God, no matter the size of the offering, tangible or intangible, it is not acceptable unto God.
Therefore, the onus is on us to ALWAYS ensure that we bring our sacrifices, tangible or intangible, before God with lowliness of hearts. I pray God will help us do this always in Jesus Christ mighty name. Amen.
Till we meet again, keep keeping on in Him!