“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51: 17).
God doesn’t want you to come to Him empty-handed.
No, you can’t come to Him full of yourself,
And you can’t come to Him based on your track record
And you can’t use your performance as a recommendation.
No, you can’t come to Him based on your family,
Your personality,
Your education,
Your position in life,
The successes you’ve had,
The possessions you’ve accumulated,
Or the human acceptance you’ve gained.
But God requires you to come with your hands full.
He requires you to bring to Him the sweetest of sacrifices,
The sacrifice of words,
He calls you to bring Hosea’s offering.
“Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you
And return to the Lord.
Say to Him
‘Forgive all our sins
And receive us graciously,
That we may offer our lips as the sacrifice of bulls.’”
God doesn’t want you to come to him empty-handed.
He asks of you a sacrifice.
Not a grain offering,
Not a lamb or a bull.
No, that requirement has been satisfied
By the blood of the Lamb.
Yet God asks of you a sacrifice
It is the offering of words,
Words of humility,
Words of honesty,
Words of moral courage,
Words of moral candor,
Words that could only be spoken,
By one who rests in grace.
Words of confession are what you must bring.
Place words,
Free of negotiation or excuse,
On His altar of grace,
And receive forgiveness and cleansing.
Uncover your heart,
Exposed by words, and say:
“We will never again say, ‘Our gods’
To what our own hands have made,
For in You the fatherless find compassion.”
What David willingly did He requires of you,
Come with words,
It is the way of grace,
It is the way of freedom,
It is the way to God.
-Paul Tripp, Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy
(HT: Ryan Kelly)
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