“How can we make up to you for what we’ve done?” you ask. “Shall we bow before the Lord with offerings of yearling calves?”
Oh no! For if you offered him thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of olive oil—would that please him? Would he be satisfied? If you sacrificed your oldest child, would that make him glad? Then would he forgive your sins? Of course not!
No, he has told you what he wants, and this is all it is: to be fair, just, merciful, and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:6-8 Living Bible (TLB)
There is nothing of material worth we can give to God. Everything is already His. We can offer up as much as we consider valuable but God cannot be bought. We can sacrifice every treasure we hold dear but these things will not reserve a place in His Kingdom. God looks at the heart and He has already told us in His Word what He is looking to find there.
Our Father in Heaven has already given us what we did not ask for. He gave us His Son, Jesus, who died for our sins. We cannot repay this debt. We can only embrace it with whole-hearted devotion. With God, we are equal in what we possess. The only difference to God between rich or poor is what we do with what we have been blessed to receive. We are to be humble in our adoration of the Creator and Sustainer of life. It is our faith that pleases God. He desires we be fair and just and merciful toward one another. God requires that our hearts be pure and clean. What He gives to us comes freely. We cannot even begin to give to God what He has given to us. What God wants from us, we cannot buy. We have to live it.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:32-34 NIV
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