Just what does God want from us anyway? Rivers of animal blood from sacrifices? Mindless obedience and compliance? Perfection? Probably more anguish and anger has resulted from faulty notions of God's requirements. And yet, understanding what He wants isn't that difficult.
"Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation." (Psalm 24:3-5)
Clean hands. He's not talking about washing after work and play, but rather hands that have not participated in evil deeds. A pure heart. He wants first place, and unswerving love and loyalty (see Matthew 22:36-40). He wants passionate pursuit of truth, so as not to lift up our "soul to falsehood". He wants honest vows, promises, and pledges.
The God who owns it all (Psalm 24:1) desires that which He is entitled to. He created us for His pleasure, and to be our pleasure. He wants to know us, and for us to truly, personally know Him. We are designed for relationship with Him.
As humans, we thrive on relationships. While some prefer more solitude than others, none of us truly thrive in life without meaningful relationships. And this is an inherent indicator of God's ultimate purpose for us concerning Him. We cannot truly thrive in this age aside of an enriching relationship with our Creator and Father.
It is Jesus, God's Son, who modeled the relationship that our Father desires, and established the basis for it through His sacrifice. Hebrews 10:19-22 describes what Jesus' sacrifice has done, and implores us to "draw near".
May those words - "draw near" - be our priority today. However that works, and whatever that looks like in your life, choose it as your priority. Nothing will be more enriching and fulfilling than walking in intimate relationship with our Creator, through His Son, Jesus the Christ.
Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2012
"Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation." (Psalm 24:3-5)
Clean hands. He's not talking about washing after work and play, but rather hands that have not participated in evil deeds. A pure heart. He wants first place, and unswerving love and loyalty (see Matthew 22:36-40). He wants passionate pursuit of truth, so as not to lift up our "soul to falsehood". He wants honest vows, promises, and pledges.
The God who owns it all (Psalm 24:1) desires that which He is entitled to. He created us for His pleasure, and to be our pleasure. He wants to know us, and for us to truly, personally know Him. We are designed for relationship with Him.
As humans, we thrive on relationships. While some prefer more solitude than others, none of us truly thrive in life without meaningful relationships. And this is an inherent indicator of God's ultimate purpose for us concerning Him. We cannot truly thrive in this age aside of an enriching relationship with our Creator and Father.
It is Jesus, God's Son, who modeled the relationship that our Father desires, and established the basis for it through His sacrifice. Hebrews 10:19-22 describes what Jesus' sacrifice has done, and implores us to "draw near".
May those words - "draw near" - be our priority today. However that works, and whatever that looks like in your life, choose it as your priority. Nothing will be more enriching and fulfilling than walking in intimate relationship with our Creator, through His Son, Jesus the Christ.
Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2012
posted by steve @ 8:18 AM
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