The neglected offering God desires

The neglected offering God desires

The word ‘offering’ often brings to mind the offering of money. During the past week, many among us have made a commitment to spend at least 2 hours in prayers. I see this as another type of offering: the offering our time to God.

When I was spending time in prayer, God impressed upon me that He was NOT looking out for my money or time. He wants my heart. When God first set the stage for the Isrealites to offer sacrifices to Him, He was NOT looking out for the animals, for He owns them. He wanted their hearts.

God wants us to offer our hearts to Him. What type of heart is God looking for?

In Psalm 50, God said He has no need of all the sacrifices the people offered to Him. In verse 14, “let your giving of thanks be your sacrifice to God”, God stated categorically that He desired a thankful heart above all other sacrifices. It is not a mere uttering of a few words of thanks that constitutes the giving of thanks. There must be a deep appreciation of God and His accompanying goodness, following a period of reflection of life and contemplation of God’s work in us. This thankful heart of is often neglected and overshadowed by our pre-occupation with self and our own needs.

It is the offering of a thankful heart that He desires.

In Psalm 51:17, “the sacrifices God wants is a broken heart”. This will not be fully comprehensible if we are always so full of ourselves when we approach God. Conversely, it also does not refer to that ‘broken feeling’ when circumstances or people create a negative feeling in us, resulting in self-pity and low self-esteem. This is NOT the kind of brokenness referred to here. This broken heart must originate from a deep awareness of our sinful state in light of God’s perfect nature.

It is the offering of a broken heart that He desires.

When we approach God in prayer, He desires us to come before Him with a heart full of thanks, but yet fully aware of our own sinfulness and insignificance before Him. The next time we offer God our money or time, let us not forget or neglect to offer God our hearts as well.

We often neglect what God often desires: the offering of our hearts