There is so much to this that I am still trying to flesh out so bear with me. Sometimes it feels like God just downloads so much into your brain that it becomes overwhelming. My heart knows the message to convey, but putting it into readable words can be difficult for me.
God had laid it on my heart to start reading in Hosea earlier this week and as I began reading it I honestly had no idea what he was trying to convey. In hindsight it makes sense, but do you ever start to read something and you’re like “God, this makes no sense…where are you going with this?” this was definitely one of those moments for me. I power through to chapter 6 and THERE IT IS. Hosea 6:6 reads: For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings. I immediately wanted to read this verse in a different translation. My favorite cross reference translation is The Message so I switched the translation over in my app and that version says “I am after love that lasts, not more religion. I want you to know GOD, not go to more prayer meetings.
Guys, this is the very core of what God wants from us. He desires a relationship with us. We can go to church every time the doors are open. We can give our money to every ministry, missionary or charity that tickles our fancy. We can even spend our time volunteering or feeding the poor, but if our heart is not seeking Him He doesn’t care. He says in Isaiah that our worship charades and our church meetings wear Him out because they have become an obligation and are no longer about seeking Him. They have become a show that we put on. I have heard SO many times “I am a Christian. I go to church.” But we have to understand that God doesn’t want us to go to church just because that’s the thing that Christians do. He gave us the church as a place to fellowship with one another, to worship HIM, and to help each other seek HIM. If you’re going just to say you’ve gone you might as well stay at home. Acts of good and lip service religion will NOT get us through that narrow gate to heaven. The only way to heaven is through HIM.
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Mark 7:6).