Sacrifice
“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain…”
Worship is all about sacrifice. From the very first example of worship in Genesis, biblical worship has always contained an element of sacrifice. Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all offered different sacrifices to the Lord before the law was given to instruct the people of God in how to worship acceptably (it is interesting to note that none of these are recorded to have sung or made music to the Lord, potentially challenging the emphasis in our modern thinking about worship).
These acts of worship were often killing an animal and offering it to God (here we mean the act of sacrifice as an offering of worship rather than to cover sin). So before the law was given, men worshipped God by sacrificing something of their livestock to him. This is a far more involved process than merely deducting 1 from the count of the herd. Such an act would involve (often) building an altar, wearing appropriate attire, catching the animal, killing it, preparing the carcass and washing the clothes and utensils used as well as postponing any work that was to be done that day. This took on even more protocol after the law was given to Israel, with a whole section of the people devoted to this purpose. So we begin to see that this was not 45 minutes on a Sunday morning! Sacrifices would take many hours; not to mention the fact that wealth was often counted in terms of livestock at that time.
If we want to truly worship God and offer him acceptable worship, it has to cost us. If something doesn’t cost us anything to give then it is worthless. So it is with our worship. If we allow our feelings to dictate how we act towards God then something needs to change. God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and is always worthy of praise, so regardless of how we feel or what has happened in a particular day or week, it is right for us to sacrifice and worship him. It is in these sacrifices that the essence of biblical worship is restored to us; in giving something to God that costs us.
This does extend to our money. Let us not be apologetic for the fact that we offer our money to God as an act of worship. Please note that sacrifice is not necessary for us to gain God’s approval, as the ultimate sacrifice, that is, Jesus Christ, has already been offered, but that we are talking about worshipping God – a reflection of his position in our hearts. True worship is to give to God that which costs us, whether it takes the form of offering money to God, singing in tongues even though we might feel self-conscious, choosing to spend time at the throne of God rather than watch TV, dancing irrespective of what we may look like, or one of any number of other things.
Cost is relative. Something that may be easy for one person to offer may be a huge sacrifice for someone else. For a young, healthy man or woman of God, it is not so much to dance before the Lord, but for an older person with less energy, such an act is far more costly. For a wealthy person, it may not be a big deal to offer £10 to God, but for another, with less means, again, such an act is a large sacrifice, requiring much faith. Jesus taught us this when the poor widow in the temple gave two small coins: “…’I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’” Amongst the wealthy crowd, there was one worshipper; the woman who gave all she had to the Lord.
Let us come to God with something to bring to him, something that costs us, in the knowledge that he is Lord, and that he has already given to us that which cost him most dearly; his own Son.
‘No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.’