Let's Go Back to the Bible

Giving Him what He wants

Did you ever receive a gift that you didn’t want? Why didn’t you want it? Each person has their own tastes, likes, preferences, etc. If a sushi-lover excitedly gives his favorite sushi to a sushi-hater, it does not mean that the gift will be as excitedly received as it was given. For a gift to be appropriate, it must take into account the receiver’s tastes, likes, preferences, etc.

Do you think a gift has ever been given to God that He didn’t want? Read passages like Isaiah 1:11-17 and Amos 5:21-27, and you’ll discover that God has rejected gifts that man has offered to Him. Yet, there is another kind of gift that can be “a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God” (Phil. 4:18). What’s the difference? If someone offers to God a gift (or a worship), how could God reject a well-intentioned, heart-felt, personally-valued gift?

God must be regarded as holy (Lev. 10:3). All that we offer to Him must be holy (Rom. 12:1). Our gifts to Him must be what He wants, and not what we think He would or should want!