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You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 17:1

God’s love moved Him to sacrifice that which meant the most to Him—His only Son. Our response,if we truly understand His love for us, is the desire to give back toGod that which means the most to us. The Old Testament reveals thatGod set forth high standards for the sacrifices He required of Hispeople. A worthy sacrifice had to cost the people something. As theirhearts shifted away from God, the people began struggling to give Godcostly offerings. They would bring blind, lame, and sick animals,assuming God could not tell the difference (Mal. 1:8). God saw whatthey were doing and declared their offerings to be in vain (Mal.1:10). 

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Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

Matthew 8:21

Often our struggle as Christians is not in deciding whether we should obey Christ but in obeying immediately. We may acknowledge our need to follow Christ and commitourselves to do what He has told us. Yet when God reveals His will tous, that is the time to obey! God’s revelation of His will is Hisinvitation to respond immediately. Some would-be disciples pledgedtheir willingness to follow Jesus, but they told Him they were notready yet. In Jesus’ day, a Jewish man was expected to care for his elderly parents until they died. 

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For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4:24

Our God is a consuming fire. He is satisfiedonly when His love totally consumes us. We usually think of a jealousperson as someone resentful and suspicious, but the Lord’s jealousy onour behalf is something that should be precious to us! He has thecomplete right to our lives. He gave us life, and He wants to protectus from anything that could harm us. That is why He has commanded Hischildren to worship no other gods, allowing nothing to distract usfrom His consuming love. The Lord opposes anything that hinders ourrelationship with Him (Deut. 6:15). 

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“Not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.”

Joshua 23:14

Near the end of his life, Joshua took time with the Israelites to review all that God had done for them since they first began following Him. Godhad given them an impossible assignment: to conquer a foreign andhostile land with fortified cities and armies more powerful than theirown. The Israelites were to go forward with nothing more than God’spromise that He would go with them and take care of them. Now Joshualooked back over their experience and reminded the Israelites that Godhad kept every promise. They had experienced numerous victories andhad enjoyed God’s provision for every need. 

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Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.

Psalm 24:3–4

God has rigid requirements for those who want to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. There is no easy access to God forthose with unclean hands or an impure heart. It is an affront to holyGod to assume that we can indulge in our sin and blatantly disobey Hisword, then brazenly enter the holy of holies. In Old Testament times,one’s hands represented one’s activities. Clean hands symbolized pureactivities. Priests washed their hands before serving in the temple tosymbolize that only those who were cleansed could worship holy God.There are levels of intimacy with God. 

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