If I am to be a fruitful disciple I must respect God’s likes and dislikes. The Bible is full of the things God likes and the things He dislikes. If I am to keep irritation out of our relationship, I must respect the fences of God.
I do this in human relationships such as marriage, friendship, and church service. The only difference is that human relationships are often petty and selfish, whereas God’s fences are always pure.
God hates many things—a proud look, a lying tongue, murderous hands, a wicked heart, mischievous feet, lies, troublemakers (Proverbs 6:17–19). But He particularly despises an empty sacrifice (Isaiah 1:14). If I offer that sacrifice with all the correctness of the Law, yet without the heart affection to accompany it, it creates only irritation in God’s heart.
The difficulty with the empty sacrifice is that I may never know when I am offering it. Mental mistakes are far more obvious than emotional mistakes. I cannot teach wrong doctrine very long before being found out, but who can examine the heart?
So my sacrifices—praise, prayer, gifts, service—must be constantly scrutinized by me, because I may be ever so correct in form yet ever so lacking in devotion. Do I say, “I love You, Lord,” and yet wince at the hypocrisy You see in my heart? Lord, may I ever please You with “the sacrifices of righteousness” (Psalm 51:19, KJV), which is the sacrifice after Your own heart.
“And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:16).
Daily with the King 