Kids are funny. Their little brains put together ideas in such unique ways that seem logical to them—even if they don’t seem that way to adults.
My toddler teaches me this lesson often. When I watch her hurry to grab a flashlight to search for missing stuffed animals or stand on the nearest box or bucket to reach something on the counter, I can see the gears turning in her mind, piecing together solutions for her dilemmas.
Sometimes, I see those gears turning when she gets into trouble. If she disobeys, she doesn’t always apologize. Instead, she brings me one of her toys, thinking it will make me feel better. Her gesture is so cute that it’s hard not to smile, but at the same time, I think to myself, I don’t want your toy—I want you to obey!
I’m immediately humbled when this thought crosses my mind because it makes me stop and consider what Jesus does for us every single day. When we sin, we often come before Him thinking we can buy back His favor. So we present an offering of some kind: God, I’ll serve You at more church events to make up for my sin. Or, God, I’ll give more money to my church on Sunday so You can forgive me.
Give Him Your Heart
Maybe some of us fall victim to this line of thinking because of the biblical precedent of sin offerings and sacrifices (Leviticus 4—6; Numbers 15:22–29). God established these commands in the Law for the Israelites to atone for their sins. But we Church Age believers often carry this approach into our day-to-day behavior to make ourselves feel clean rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to convict and humble us and trusting Jesus’ finished work on the cross that redeemed us from sin.
God wants our obedience and affection more than our offerings.
The apostle John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3), and keeping His commandments should be every Christian’s priority. But we forget that because of the sacrifice of Jesus, the perfect, spotless Lamb of God, we don’t need to make peace with our Savior through offerings. God wants our obedience and affection more than our offerings.
During King Saul’s reign, the prophet Samuel made this truth clear. When the Lord commanded Saul to utterly destroy everything the warring Amalekites had—“man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (1 Samuel 15:3)—Saul and the people disobeyed and “spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed” (v. 9).
When Samuel confronted Saul, the king defended himself, saying he saved the animals to sacrifice to God. But Samuel said, “Has the Lᴏʀᴅ as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).
Just like my toddler bringing me a toy doesn’t solve an issue, trying to circumvent God’s instructions with his own plan did not earn Saul God’s favor.
Saul and the Israelites made the mistake we often do. Instead of obeying God, the king tried to earn God’s favor on his own terms. Just like we try to avoid the feeling of guilt when we sin by telling God, “I’ll make it up to You,” Saul tried to justify his disobedience by twisting his actions to make them sound more righteous than if he had listened to God. But just like my toddler bringing me a toy doesn’t solve an issue, trying to circumvent God’s instructions with his own plan did not earn Saul God’s favor.
Repent and Obey
Unlike his predecessor, Saul, King David learned this lesson well. When he committed the terrible sins of adultery and murder, David knew he could not work his way out of punishment and into God’s approval by offering sacrifices. In his brokenness, he wrote to the Lord, “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” (Psalm 51:16–17). Evidently, David must have passed this lesson to his son and successor on the throne, King Solomon, who wrote, “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lᴏʀᴅ than sacrifice” (Proverbs 21:3).
When we sin, the path forward is one of humble repentance.
When we sin, the path forward is one of humble repentance. Our God is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6–7). Living in light of this truth, we should appeal to God’s mercy and grace by admitting and turning from our sin and rejoicing in Jesus, who has redeemed us by His work on the cross alone. Then, with our hearts directed toward the Lord, we demonstrate our love for Him by living righteously according to His Word.
Because telling our heavenly Father, “I’m sorry, I was wrong; please help me do what’s right” means much more than bringing Him a toy.
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