Daily Devotional – 11/17/17 “What are you willing to sacrifice?”

I sometimes wonder why it has to be so hard, serving God. Yes, I understood I would have to sacrifice some time, some relationships, some invitations, some tears, some hurt and some moments of woes but what I didn’t realize was the ‘what else’. What do I mean? Well, there is something else that comes with saying yes to God. It’s called brokenness. David said to God in Psalm 51:16-17, “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.” See, when we come before God, willingly offering Him our broken spirit, it is then we are truly ready to be restored. Because having a broken spirit makes us as useless as a broken jug however coming before God makes me useful again. Not only that but a broken and contrite, that’s repentant, heart. A heart that is repentant is one that is willing to apologize, even if you did nothing wrong. These are the things God will not despise.

Sure, it’s good if I am willing to sacrifice my Saturday nights to study the bible but it’s even better to sacrifice my broken spirit nobody sees. It’s great for me to sacrifice food while I’m fasting but it’s greater to bring before God my broken and remorseful heart you think is whole and happy. Beloved, God isn’t looking at what we can physically offer Him, those things can be made in bulk, over and over again. What He desires are those things man cannot recreate. For God shares in Isaiah 66:2, “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” Don’t misunderstand me, brokenness hurts but it’s not until death, only to deliverance. So, are you willing to give God your broken spirit and contrite heart even if it hurts? Are you willing to give God the parts of you that desire mercy even if you never get the miracle? Are you willing to withstand the brokenness even if blesses someone else? God desires all of us, even if that means Him breaking that which He created. And if God blesses us only to then break us; can you not imagine what the restoration will look like afterwards? I can it looks mighty good to me.