Here I am

Lord, you made me understand this: You don’t really want sacrifices and grain offerings. You don’t want burnt offerings and sin offerings. So I said, “Here I am, ready to do what was written about me in the book. My God, I am happy to do whatever you want. I never stop thinking about your teachings.” (Psalm 40:6-8)

At times, we might think God wants this or that from us, like an offering upon the altar of the Old Testament times. Things don't matter to God as much as our heart does. When he asked the people to bring a lamb or goat to offer in the Temple, it wasn't because he wanted the meat of the animal - he wanted to see the heart of the people - to see if they were willing to choose the best and dedicate it to God. All God asks of us is to choose him first - period. Nothing we 'bring' to him is of real or lasting value until he has our full heart!

The words, "Here I am", these are what God wants most. When the heart is behind those words, the world we live in changes. We begin to see things in a different light - his purposes become plain, his protective power is felt, and our lives take on an atmosphere of hope. When the people of old brought the sin offering, they were filled with hope that their sins would not be remembered against them. When we bring ourselves to the altar and ask God to forgive our sins, with truly contrite and open hearts, he instills a hope that we will finally live free of those things. 

Ready to do...all of life isn't about doing whatever we want to do when we want to do it. When we finally realize the sacrifice of a dedicated life means a change in the actions of that life, we are moving closer and closer to what God intends for us. Doing our 'own thing' might be okay for a while, but at some point, we will grow weary in following that path. When we place our lives on the altar of grace, we are asking God to change our priorities - to refocus our plans, so to speak. At first, this might seem a little uncomfortable because we had things 'all worked out' to be going one direction, but in time, the more we submit to his will, the easier it is to actually leave what we had 'worked out' and take on what he had planned for us from the beginning of time.

God doesn't stop teaching us as we grow in grace. In fact, his teachings become richer, more meaningful. We find ourselves actually craving the knowledge and wisdom contained within those teachings. Today it may seem like we don't really have that 'intensity' of dedication, but when we are willing to allow it to be developed within, laying down our lives upon the altar of grace, we are placing ourselves exactly where his work can begin. Just sayin!