Devotion's by Deborah

Devotion 12-7-23 Proverbs 21:3 - "To do righteousness and justice Is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice." Can we really know what matters to God? Can we know what is essential in God's economy? Can we know? The answer is a resounding, "Yes!" The Old Testament sacrificial system was established by God as a type, a foreshadowing, of what Jesus would thoroughly accomplish in the cross and resurrection. That was Jesus's part; what is our part? Righteousness and justice are our part. This broadly covers our entire relationship with God and the world. 1 Samuel 15:22- "... Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice..." Proverbs 15:8- "The sacrifice of the wicked Is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight." Isaiah 1:16-17 tells us there must be a lifestyle change- “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow." Micah 6:8 says, "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" In Proverbs 21, the words wise, righteous, pure, upright, and justice, appear 18 times in 31 verses. That is an indication of what is important to God. You may know God and what His priorities require of you. You may begin to know God's mind and His heart. How? Read His word; daily, routinely, bury His word in your heart and mind. Daily, routinely, determine to live out what He is putting into you. Jesus summarized the entire Old Testament in two commandments- Matthew 22:37-39- " ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"