GOD DOES NOT DELIGHT IN SACRIFICES: THEY FRUSTRATE DIVINE PURPOSE

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi 

1 Sam 15:15,20-22, KJV “And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.  And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams”.

      It is rare to attend a church meeting without experiencing the endless  requests from preachers demanding for 'sacrificial offerings ' from the congregation. Many a believer have been conditioned to believe that God will always demand a burning sacrifice from a person before answering a prayer .This is common among African churches where most parishioners have a history of the worship of deities  either directly or indirectly by family tradition.Idol worship demands sacrifice , thus, the concept of sacrifice is deeply embedded in the psyche of the average African Christian. Character development is of less importance to the African church as long as immediate needs are being supplied. This is the root of the gross underdevelopment of the African continent. 

       An unemployed single mother of two once sacrificed her only car- a convertible BMW and precious jewelry, to my ministry in a bid to attract God’s favour , two days later I returned them back to her saying Jesus has already paid the price for her miracle and all she needed to do was to receive it by faith; though she meant well by giving ,however , it wasn’t really necessary because she had more need for the items than the church did. I found out that she was under human pressure to give, not necessarily a leading from the lord, this happens under a psychological process of the conditioning of the mind by group influence. It works like this, if you were in a hall with twenty persons and noticed they all stood up every time a bell rang, you are most likely to do likewise. Likewise, if you were in a church meeting and found out that a group of persons continually gave their valuables every time a preacher gave a certain command; you are most likely to do same without reasoning. Based on this many persons say ‘amen ‘ without listening to prayers as long as Jesus is mentioned .  False preachers have taken advantage of this to exploit many. God does not need a sacrifice from you before he can bless you. You are already blessed in Christ (Eph.1:3)   

       Worship by sacrifice leads to inconsistencies in a person’s character  .Saul fell victim of this; one moment he said  he and the people took the best sheep to give to God as sacrifice and few verses later he exonerated himself  and blamed his followers for sacrificing the abominable . Our worship should never be determined by pressure from people, it is a very costly error:  that is religion; it is selfish and promotes pride : a hindrance to divine purpose and love for God. It is characteristic of the fallen world system   1 John 2:15-17  Mssg says “Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world — wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important — has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out — but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.”  Sacrifice is no substitute for Christian character based on define purpose and God prefers mercy to sacrifice. The only acceptable sacrifice required of us is that of praise .We should be led by the Holy Spirit and not human impulse.  Saul thought availability of provisions for sacrifice was a confirmation of God’s approval but that’s not always the case. We should always ask for divine guidance from the lord through mature Christians before making major life altering decisions.

Prayer : Heavenly Father forgive me for my sins against you I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation  I receive him as lord and saviour and receive grace for extraordinary multiplication of provisions and  to overcome temptation in Jesus name.  

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