PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY - MEDITATE DAY AND NIGHT
May 30th, 2026.
God is looking for a sincere heart while man is concerned with sacrifices - always looking for short cuts to reach the heart of God. Isaiah makes the contrast obvious thus: “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” (Isa. 58:5-6 NIV)
Jesus echoed Hosea 6:6 in Matthew 12:7 when He said; “I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.” God desires mercy, a sincere heart, not sacrifices to appease Him. King Saul used sacrifice instead of obedience and he was condemned for it. “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Sam. 15:22 NIV)
Man’s most important responsibility, no matter what outward or physical accomplishments are achieved, God is concerned with the attitude of the heart. He desires that an individual’s total being be involved in the pursuit of the knowledge of God. Hence God declares: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,.....” (Hosea 4:6 KJV) The Bible consistently urges believers to seek knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, teaching that all true wisdom originates from God. "The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out." (Prov. 18:15) The knowledge of God reduces the infiltration of false prophets. It makes us wiser and we lean more on the truth.
Anything we do without a sincere heart is futile. It is like bribing God or twisting His hand to release our desires. Instead of obedience and genuine repentance, seeking mercy and offering mercy, we fast, we do all the things that outwardly look perfect but our hearts are fixed on what we desire from God not on God Himself. We say like the people of old; “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.” (Hosea 6:1 NIV)
How do I cultivate a sincere heart? Seek to know God first. Who is God? Why is He God? What does He do? Why is He the Almighty? Who is Jesus Christ? Why does He love me? What pleases God? How can I love Him? Not that you are still lying, doing things laid out in Galatians 5:19-21, and coming with sacrifices to appease God. That will be self-righteousness like Cain.
THE WORD: "Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience." (Heb. 10:22)
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