We hear in Psalm 50 how thanking the Lord and living right is all He wants: “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!…Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.” (Psalm 50)
Everything that we do should honor God. There are sacrifices that we have to make in our lives as we join in the covenant with God. God offered His Son as a sacrifice for us and our sin.
Our sacrifice is justified and we are redeemed through Christ’s great sacrifice.
Thus, God only requests that we bring Thanksgiving as our sacrifice. But most important, He requires that we “go the right way” to gain our salvation.Going the right way sounds easy.
When we travel do we intentionally take the wrong road and miss our destination point? My wife would say that this is true of me. I can’t resist taking short cuts. The problem in many cases is that I am trying to discover a short cut that may not exist. I have tried to create short cuts while traveling which have brought me back to the point where I started. This has cost me time and frustration.
If I would use a map I might do better. God’s word as revealed in the scripture should be our spiritual map. There are no short cuts in seeking God.
We must be disciplined in meditating on His word and open ourselves for His directions. I remember a time when I was looking for something to read that would help nourish me spiritually.
While at the bookstore I saw a daily devotional with the words “One Minute” in the title. Being the short cut expert that I am this really got my attention. No doubt one minute with God is better than no minutes, but will it get me to my destination?
Going the right way requires some sacrifice on our part. This sacrifice sometimes known as discipline is our committing to seek God through continuous exposure to His Word. We do this as individuals and through our Christian community, the Body of Christ.
It is not a one-minute-a-day thing. We must expose ourselves to His word each day and reflect on it as we go about our daily duties. Our real sacrifice is to bring God thanks. Our thanks is empty; however, if we are not going the right way.
Salvation is our destination. Watch out for the blind short cuts!
