As I was reading this morning, this verse jumped out at me.
Psalm 40:6a
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced.”
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced.”
Has it ever occurred to you that the thing that God really wants is for you to have pierced ears?!
Think about it! Many Christians have had it all wrong for centuries. We’ve thought that God wanted us to obey a list of rules and regulations to please God. We’ve assumed that God wanted all of our sacrifices and rituals. Really, He just wants us to have pierced ears!
What does that mean? Well, the context of that verse is found in the Law given to Moses.
Exodus 21:2-6
“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything…But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master…and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.”
“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything…But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master…and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.”
What does a slave do? Does he merely memorize a list of rules? No, he shows up for work everyday to do whatever the master instructs Him. This voluntary life of indentured service was done out of love for the master. Yes, obedience is what God desires, but not in the way we have thought of it.
Psalms 40:8
“I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
“I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
Do you delight to please the Lord, or are you just doing what you absolutely must to stay on God’s good side? God isn’t impressed with a “letter of the law” obedience that isn’t from the heart.
1 Samuel 15:22
“But Samuel replied: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.’”
“But Samuel replied: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.’”
Andrew Murray stated in his book, The School Of Obedience, that the emphasis of Jesus’ teaching was always on obeying HIM, not some list of rules.
John 10:27
Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
I was asking myself this morning, “Have I gone to the Master and asked Him to take my ear to the door and pierce it with the awl of his Lordship? Do I have the permanent mark of my servitude to Him evident for all to see?”
Oh Lord, pierce my ears! I never want to leave. I want to be your slave forever, because I love you!
Romans 6:15-18
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
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