Jesus

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

JESUS

Prov 21:3

3 To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

NIV

It does seem odd that Solomon would write this since at the completion of the Temple, he and the whole of Israel offered so many cattle and sheep as sacrifices they could not be counted.

1 Kings 8:3-5

3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, 4 and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, 5 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

NIV

So then for someone who offered so many sacrifices to use the wisdom God bestowed upon him to write this, there must be great truth within. But of course we do not offer sacrifices anymore because Jesus was the last and ultimate sacrifice for all of us. Yet do we still offer certain types of sacrifices anyway. Do we consider it a sacrifice if we fast, especially for some during the Lenten season? Do we consider it a sacrifice giving up something? Do we think we are sacrificing when we give our time to serve in some way? Certainly it is not a sacrifice to be a Christian, or is it? Are we not supposed to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him? As joyful it is, to know our sins are forgiven and we are going to heaven as a reward for accepting Jesus, trying to live the good life, the holy life, the sinless life, can be a sacrifice. We are doing what is just and right in the sight of God, which should not be a sacrifice, but simply living out our relationship with God. Our church services do not include a sacrifice, it would be sacrilegious. But doing what is right and just seems a natural response to worship. Living justly, that is with justice, judging fairly, not with bias or prejudice toward anyone. Living right, righteously is another story, as only Jesus can be truly righteous and for that matter truly just. So then we could say that this doing what is right and just is surely being in Christ or having Christ in us. One man has said it as Christ living as us. This would make the most sense since he was the sacrifice that ended sacrifices. God was using Solomon to point to Jesus. If we are trying to live right and just, we are surely going to fail at times. If we try to live right and just, we might start looking at it as a sacrifice at times. It is not about us doing. It is not about us trying to do. It is not about how much we do it or how little we do. Let us live in Christ, let Christ live in and as us. Then we will be right and just in the eyes of the Lord.