A Present Heart

A Present Heart

6/1/2009

Proverbs 21:27 27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, 

How much more when he brings it with evil intent! NASB

I looked up the references for ‘abomination’ and ‘abominable’ this morning and found 131 different places in the Old Testament where these words were used. From just from my casual glimpse, I found the overwhelming majority of times the words were used were when referencing idolatry or idols. Idolatry is an abomination to the Lord. Trying to manipulate the Lord by using religious expression is also abominable. As I thought about this I thought probably the closest thing to this in our human experience is rape or child molestation – the taking of forceful or manipulative sexual advantage of someone against their will. Why try to manipulate the Lord if there is no other reason that that of self-gratification? 

My heart must be in my worship of the Lord and my heart must be a sanctuary of the Lord – anything less than that is tantamount to abomination. Sometimes it is easy to fake it, or fake it until you make it, but these also are very serious breaches of relational trust with God. My heart must be with the Lord and must be a place where He dwells – alone with no competition; either motives, preferences or fear.

The sacrifice of the wicked is indeed abominable because his heart is not with the Lord and he’s only attempting to manipulate God and get God to cave to his demands – the sacrifice of the redeemed with an empty or absent heart or with the intent to manipulate is also a very serious thing. Be careful what you ask for and how you ask…

Father in Heaven,

You have called me to be Your own and to be Yours with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. I pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit this morning and the fellowship of Christ as I go about my day that I may keep my heart as a fitting abode for You and keep my motives, intentions and preferences pure before You – I pray in Jesus’ Name, amen.