‘More Acceptable’

‘More Acceptable’

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Proverbs 21:3

Who has decided that ‘to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable…than sacrifice?’  Our text readily answers this question. It is to ‘the Lord’ or ‘Jehovah’ that doing righteousness and justice is more acceptable than sacrifice.  What is ‘sacrifice?’ Sacrifice is religious observance. The Old Testament is replete with a very elaborate system of religious observances which had sacrifice at the core.  These religious observances involved ceremonies, special days, particular personal practices including clothing, washing, et cetera. It was very easy to become caught up in all of these religious observances and to arrive at the conclusion that these practices were what God found most acceptable.  God clarifies in numerous places, that what He wants is that we should ‘do righteousness and justice.’ The religious observance of ‘sacrifice’ is a means to an end, not the end itself. This is what brought Christ into conflict with the religious establishment of His day. He was about ‘righteousness and justice,’ and they were about ‘sacrifice.’  Christ never derided ‘sacrifice,’ as it was ordained by God, but He emphasized the difference in their value. True Christ-likeness does the same. As those who follow Christ, we do not jettison religious observance any more than He did. We do seek to follow His example in placing emphasis on doing ‘righteousness and justice.’ This is more acceptable to God.

Our most Holy and Wise God,
we praise You that You show us what is important.
We rejoice that as we look to Christ,
we understand more clearly, where to place our emphasis.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush Burning